You choose the theme of ninja girls because that is an imaginary game your 3-year-old daughter made up with a pole in the backyard and you think it's cute (and easy).
You go to your favorite thrift stores and find supplies that are cheap and work things out from there. You are proud of yourself for scoring a black ninjago shirt for the birthday girl. Costume? Check!
You DON'T google "ninja girl" because you might see images of scantily-clad "ninjas." You DO start watching YouTube videos on how to make a homemade pinata about a week before the event. A day before the party, you repair said pinata because the 6-year-old stinky brother decides to prematurely attack the pinata with a broom stick while he was sweeping. He claims he didn't know it would break, but upon questioning, does admit that the purpose of a pinata is to be broken by being hit with a stick, such as a broomstick. You tell 6-year-old brother he cannot partake of the official pinata-hitting at the party.
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| Assuming the pinata survives the process of being transported to the party, you hang up the pinata in a low position so it can be kicked and hit by little girls (and also because it was the only place the pinata could be hung on) |
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| The night before the party, you google "ninja eyes" and your work is made easy...8 minutes later you have gift bags sporting better ninja eyes than you could have drawn yourself (but you would have run out of time to draw them anyway). You also find an old door on the side of the road and use it for a simple backdrop, getting a few splinters along the way. It's the price we pay for our kids' happiness and we NEVER hold it against them later. |
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| You make cheese and jam sandwiches because that's the birthday girl's favorite food and it is a waste of good bread and cheese and jam because no one except the birthday girl and her grandma and maybe some British people like that kind of sandwich, so they go straight in the trash after the party. Lesson learned. |
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| You cut the eye holes out of black masks and cut a thrift-store t-shirt into strips for head bands and add thrift store pink ribbon for belts and there you have it: Ninja girls! |
Because you are running out of time at the last minute, you have your 8-year-old son and his friends make a ninja obstacle course on the playground. In a stroke of genius, you substitute pool noodles (that have been filling up the entire bathtub all summer from another activity and you can't bear to throw them away) for the metal poles you had intended to use. I'm sure the other moms will be grateful that you did that.
You commence pinata-bashing...
...and then big brother smashes it with one hit (middle brother was sitting on the sidelines, pouting).
You hurry up and do a game called "Sticks" (see previous post for instructions) and then cake and presents because it is summer in Flagstaff and the thunderstorms are sudden and ferocious...you can hear one rumbling in the distance.
That's it, there you have it. A ninja girl party! Oh, and Jeremy had thought of giving Annie a first-aid kit for her birthday because she loves to pass out Band Aids. What do you know, a few minutes later, she had her first First Aid EMT opportunity...Audrey bumped her lip and Annie made it all better.
Happy Birthday to our spunky, caring, athletic, independent, messy-haired, bike-jumping, skateboard riding, horse-loving, doll dressing and undressing, vibrato-singing, bathroom-narrating, expressive Annie. We love you! The things you have learned to do as a 3-year-old have astounded and entertained us...we can't see what's in store with 4!
This was told with such great detail and expression, I felt I was there celebrating with them. What a novel party theme, and carried out with such creativity" great JOB" :D
ReplyDeleteKaci is a good writer. Karli wouldn't take off the ninja uniform, wanted to sleep in it!
ReplyDeleteJason