Friday, November 02, 2007

I went to three parties in one weekend.

Yep, I'm still a party animal. Only Cherub came close to matching me, he went to 2 of them. Climber and Fixit only managed one each. Wimps.

So there was Nell's big bash that I already told you about; here's Fixit and me looking merry.

Prior to that was Elda's famous Halloween party. See the beautiful home-made bat cape on Cherub? That was his birthday present from my friend Jenny. Cherub got to come this year. Not like last year. It was almost too scary for him but he hung in there (and off me), for the sake of being with the big kids and of course the lollies.

If you peer through the fog (there was a smoke machine for the party) you might see some spooky eats and the hostess herself, the lovely Elda. She loves going all out for Halloween.

Here you see the boys listening to Elda's spooky story. By this stage so hyped up on sugar, excitement and just general 7-year-old-boy-energy that it took nearly 10 minutes of shushing, berating, threatening and begging to get them to sit down and shut up. I did my famous whistle (I had to learn how to do it in Year 10 for a play, the old fingers in the mouth one, took me months of practice but it's a very useful skill at parties) to good effect. Shocked them into silence. But then the kids were so impressed they started making more noise asking me to do it again. I offered to teach it to Elda but she asserts that she is happy with her technique of alternating Screaming Banshee with Fish Wife.

We took them out trick-or-treating; Elda let all her neighbours know and had a list of consenting houses to approach. But the coups de grace was surely trick-or-treating the chocolate counter at the local supermarket. The boys were so excited at this. How many times had they stood longingly in front of that counter hoping their parents would relent? And now suddenly they found themselves just bellowing trick or treat and the goods were handed over.

The last event for the evening was the witchy pinata. Here's Climber having a jolly good whack at it.

Bloody hard work to bust. The boys all had 2 swipes each, then the adults all had a swing. We never had that moment when pinata broke and the whole kaboodle fell out. Instead, individual sweets would shoot out after several whacks - which were then immediately swamped by a pack of ravening boys all desperate to grab the single lolly. So Climber, being a reasonably gentle soul, ended up in tears at this point, unable to mix it with the mob and yet desperately wanting to dive and claim treasure. It was very late and large amounts of sugar were in his system by then. It breaks my heart when he melts down like that, because he is quite a stoic chap, not thrown to large fuss-making. Fortunately, once the thrill of the hunt was over, the other boys generously shared their spoils.

My third party was the 5th birthday of Astrid's middle child. I was so wrecked by then that we almost didn't make it. Astrid rang me, certain that I was just confused by the start of daylight saving. But no, I'd completely forgotten. Cherub was roused from his nap and we hurtled over to the Fairy Shop to join the little fairies.

Good grief, aren't little girls well-behaved? Sitting quietly while the soft-voiced fairy gave them quiet and lovely games to play. Frankly I was slightly shell-shocked. I kept waiting for them to start jumping around or at least for some swinging off the furniture but IT NEVER HAPPENED.

Nobody doing loud burps at the food table to general applause. No food thrown. Everyone sitting quietly waiting for their fairy lemonade or fairy bread. Weird.

Probably just as well the final party was like that, though.

18 comments:

  1. Dear God, your description of the little girls at their party made me chortle. My husband likes to say something like "when males are together they get dumber, and when females are together they get smarter". One could imagine a boy coming in and cutting a massive fart, and the girls simply giving him a withering look.

    The mere idea of trick-or-treating at a chocolate counter makes me quiver with excitement. Holy cow, the magnificence of it!

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  2. The girls may appear quiet and gentle, Stomper, but give them half a chance and they WILL mess with your head.

    Speaking as a proud owner of Girl Child...

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  3. Whooooo is the wimp behind climber worrying about getting hit by the pinata?

    Anyway, when is the world going to learn that pinatas are NOT fun?

    :)

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  4. A busy Social patch!! What can I say?? We remained serenely removed?
    Old Fartery??

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  5. I'm with Aunty on the pinata front. I have never heard that statement - there was a pinata and it was fabulous - never EVER.

    Having said that it sounds to me like Elda is a party genius, keeping all those boys entertained like that!!

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  6. I loved the description of the trick-or-treat at the chocolate counter. I can just imagine how the kids must have been in absolute heaven!

    And your son Climber's reaction to the pinata? I know it so well. I think pinatas are such an odd thing - and they ALWAYS end with someone crying. The whole thing confounds me. We teach our children to share, to be generous, to not butt in...and then we do the pinata?! No wonder kids are confused!

    Lovely pix from the girlie birthday. Those are foreign to me, but sounds wonderful :)

    Heidi

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  7. You have made me so tired with living through these parties vicariously with you that I can't even think what to say.

    So I will say nothing.

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  8. How well you and Fixit look together...you're both merry people, aren't you?

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  9. pin-YATA!

    ... I just like to say it.

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  10. wow the last children's party I was at the girls were making as much noise as the boys. Perhaps when they are 5 they'll be a bit quieter.

    I hope.

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  11. Girl parties are so high pitched. All that girly squealing.
    Last party my 4yo son went to had a pinyata. After all the kids had whacked the thing into submission and all the lollies were long gone, my boy was still there whacking away "making sure its really dead, Mum". What is it with boys and sticks / spears, etc?
    Three parties in one weekend is way too much. I can't do that many of the course of a month.
    Wish I had that whistle. I do a mean fish wife though. Especially at 3.30 when we need to be at swimming lessons by 3.45. I think it comes from growing up on a farm - I can project my voice across paddocks, so a school playground is no challenge.
    Hope this weekend is quieter for you...

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  12. I know what you mean about the girls. My boys are getting to an age where we get the "look" from older ladies, and it's not the "oh, they're so cute" look we used to get when they were babies. Oh no, it's the "why doesn't their mother control the little beasts" look. Sigh. I need a nap after reading about your social schedule.

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  13. "AM PEED"

    Yes, that amused me.

    -A Boy

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  14. Only 7 weeks!! Yikes!

    That looks like a PARTY! And all those treats are making me hungry. Shula is right. Abby is much more manipulative and sneaky than her brother. That quiet is just a front. Hope you find time for a nap now.

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  15. Isn't it great that now all the parties you go to are for the kids? Oh, of course with the odd 40th thrown in (for those not in denial!).

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  16. I.can't.party.like.that.

    Never could.
    I need a month to work up to an event, and then another month to recover.

    The US traditions of Hallow'een ( Oct), followed by Thanksgiving ( Nov ), then Xmas ( Dec ), and NY ( Jan ) just exhausts me.

    Christmas is enough for me...

    :)

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  17. Appearances can be deceptive Stomper ... Little girls can be PROPER little madams when they want to be ....

    Give me the noisy, rowdy bowsies any day!

    Lovely photos.

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  18. Love the little girls at the party. With my eldest being a girl I got such a shock when my boy started having/going to parties. Such different animals.

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Don't let the cat get your tongue.