With all the travels and birthdays going on between January-March, I totally procrastinated in planning the girls’ birthday party this year. Since Brianne and Bridgette’s birthdays are only 3 weeks apart, and they attend the same kindergarten class, it only made sense that they have a joint party this year. Fortunately, the girls did not mind sharing the limelight with one another at all.
The tricky part in planning this party, and probably the real reason why it was so delayed, had to do with their eagerness in helping me plan the details. It’s funny how in hindsight, planning Bridgette’s birthday parties in the past have been relatively easy because I had full control on who to invite, where to host the party, what food to serve, how the decor should look, and all the other details that went along with it. Five-turning-six year olds no longer like their parents to make such decisions.
Don’t get me wrong…..I love watching the girls blossom into the independent, mindful mini-adults that they are now, where they not only have minds of their own, but also the confidence to vocalize their thoughts on every matter. Ofcourse, it can be frustrating at times because it prolongs everything that we do, and we’re constantly having to justify, explain, and rationalize. Still, this is the journey that they are meant to go down, and I’m grateful to be helping them grow every step of the way.
So, back to their birthday party. We began the party planning with the guest list and venue selection. The girls, very predictably, wanted to invite every single person in their class, plus many of Bridgette’s close friends here. That list came out to be about 45 kids between the ages of 4-6. It wasn’t going to work for the venues that the girls liked, which were The Reading Bug, and Scribble Me Pretty. Second order of business then, was the scale down the guest list. In order to be somewhat “fair”, they decided that it would be an all girls’ party, and we ended up having to cut all the boys from the original guest list. They settled on The Reading Bug as the venue, and picked the book Pinkalicious as the party theme.
Next, we went shopping for invitations together. The girls remembered the party store that we often pass by when we visit the Farmer’s Market in San Carlos, and after a quick trip there, we left with two packages of pink invitations that they agreed upon.
I helped write the 411’s on the invitation, but left it to the girls to write out the invitee’s names, as well as their own names. They did a great job!
I was very relieved that The Reading Bug’s party package included all the decor and entertainment, so all we really had to do was to pick the theme. The girls decided that they would like cupcakes rather than a birthday cake, and being as overly ambitious as I usually am, I suggested we make them together. Two days before the party, I ended up making an emergency call to Sibby’s to order 2 dozen cupcakes and 2 giant cupcakes, saving me half a day of work and reducing the likelihood of disastrous-looking cupcakes, whew! 🙂
As for their attire, my cousin Prascilla bought the girls Hello Kitty birthday dresses, which they were more than eager to wear to the party. Excellent time saver, thank you Prascilla!
Our time slot for the party was 2:30pm-4:30pm. It was a drop-off party, meaning that parents would simply drop their kids off, and would not stay for the party. This is very common for school-age children, and definitely a sign of the kids’ growing independence!
The party included art and craft sessions, story time, freeze dance, and snack time. Towards the end, they had a parade around the bookstore, using their hand-made wands to cast magic spells on the books.
Happy birthday Brianne and Bridgette! We love you soooooo much!
