Early August spring cleaning...

[estepheia]

Phew! Ten solid hours of housecleaning in stifling heat, wth two kids constantly underfoot who were oscillating between bored and trying to be helpful, who were not allowed near the telly or the playstation today because yesterday they took off in the middle of a big department store. Tomorrow I will have 5 kids jumping up and down around me, because it's Toyah's birthday party. Shoot. Me. Now.

ETA: I should mention, that Mr. Estepheia cut the lawn, cleaned some of our windows and pushed the hoover around too, he shopped and he tidied up. So, he put in his ten hours of drudgery too. Lucky me.

Comments

[caille.livejournal.com]

No, I will not shoot you. Hee! Honest, I wish I could come help. You are such a good mom. You are raising spirited girls (they just took off?) who are learning that their actions have consequences (no TV or Playstion!), and tomorrow you are voluntarily opening your door for still more of these strange young creatures. Because you love your girls.

Think of it this way: several other women are going to get a quiet few hours while their children are with you. Maybe one of them will write a bit of fic!

Plus they owe you.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Hee. I promised to bake a cake with them if they go to bed peacefully. They went upstairs without fighting or whining! I think they are probably still awake, listening to an audiobook BUT they're quiet. So there.

I don't think the kiddies' parents think they owe me, but Viktoria will probably receive invites to THEIR b-day parties. And that will make her very happy.

And yeah, love my little toads. :-D

[caille.livejournal.com]

Some time when you get a chance, I'd love to hear what the Children's Birthday Party custom is in your community.

The reason I ask is because it's very different now, in my community, than it was a million years ago when I was a young child. Back then, not so many kids had kids' parties. It was more of a family thing.

Now it seems like it's a series of major social events, involving invitations, "goodie bags", presents, sometimes event parties (like miniature golf or water slides). It seems like it could be a lot of fun, but a lot of stress, also, not to mention the expense.

Gotta keep asking the big old questions when you're blessed with this girl's thirst for knowledge...

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Well, it's her fourth birthday, so we won't indulge too much. The rule of the thumb is that kids are allowed to invite as many friends as they are years old. Meaning Toyah was allowed to invite 4 - normally that would mean 4 plus her sister, but each time I asked her who to invite she came up with her sister first. Awwww. And also the one girl she really wanted to invite is in Turky all summer. So, three little friends from kindergarten (one is actually Tina's best friend), plus my own two. That should be managable.

No theme for four-year-olds. Some people do, but I get agitated if I have an involved program/theme and things don't work out as planned. So, I prefer improvising, depending on the behaviour of the kids.

Games: We blind one kid with a scarf, give her a wooden spoon and then she has to go look for an upturned pot. There's a little prize underneath. They all love hitting the pot and making lots of noise. The other children give clues so the blindfolded girl can find the prize.

We do animal impersonations. Nothing fancy.
I might paint their nails and paint colorful strands into their hair.

As for prizes: I have pretty hair slides, glass marbles, little tattoos and sweets.

As for food: waffles with whipped cream, chocolate cake, sausages, chips and pizza. At that age they always complain, so finding something EVERYBODY will eat is next to impossible. They are too excited to eat anyway. :-)

So, this is actually not such a monumental event. I will now bake a chocolate cake with the kids. That will make them happy. Afterwards I will let them watch a bit of telly, while I give myself an hour to work on my Spike/Andrew fic, which popped into my brain last night. (Oh no! not another WIP!)