R and M’s birthdays respectively bracket the Labor Day holiday. One has a birthday just before school starts, the other just after. It’s an awkward time for a birthday on both occasions: friends are overbooked with end-of-summer, get-ready-for-school stuff, then overbooked with settling-in-to-the-new-school-routine for the other.
And, in 2009, we threw ANOTHER wrinkle at these two… a cross-town move and a parental surgery.
So. We made a deal with the kids. The family would delay any birthday parties until 1) the move was finished, 2) C’s surgical recovery was mostly over, and 3) the normal holiday rush was completed. And, at that time, we’d have one combined big-deal birthday celebration. To demonstrate our seriousness, we took the kids shopping for the party decorations at the time of their birthdays, and started the party planning process at that time. It’s easier to delay the gratification if you know the things at least started, you know?
That big-deal celebration took place this past weekend. At OMSI. We had 15 or 16 children present. It worked out to be about seven friends each, at a collaborative theme party. The boys were a pirate theme; girls were Pacific Islanders. I joked that, instead of the “pirate or ninja?” question, our party was asking “islander or interloper?”
Party guests arrived, checked in, and were assigned the following:
- pirate bandana or lei, depending upon group.
- a team for the OMSI treasure hunt (including at least one adult chaperone for the team)
- a treasure hunt list and instructions
Phase 1 of the party involved a museum-wide treasure hunt for knowledge. Teams had to cover the museum, answering questions from the exhibits all throughout the facility. Answer 15 of the possible 26, then turn your sheet in to the Sergeant at Arms for validation and entry into the party proper!
The treasure hunt was a stroke of genius from C. The party spread out, smaller groups of tangential acquaintances forged the bond of friendship, and C had ample time to set up a wonderful party space with pirate-castle cakes, punch, ice cream and all sorts of cool themed decorations. Oh, and presents for the party goers, too.
Phase 2 of the party was cake and ice cream. Guests did the limbo while all the treasure hunter teams finished up. The refreshments were tasty, and the kids liked the highly themed decorations and food items. No longer do the birthday parties look like the near food fight of six year olds hopped up on sugar and excitement; now, the gatherings are a bit calmer and even include some cross-gender conversational outreach, if you know what I mean.
Phase 3, was what we called ‘open play’ at the museum. Some guests took advantage of free passes to OMNImax, others took advantage of free submarine tours, and some of sought out specific exhibits for deeper study. We had all types, and met everyone at their specific need. And… C and team cleaned up the party during this time.
I’m telling you, hanging out with this particular group of kids is like being on site with the X-Men. Every one of them is amazingly gifted in some area to such a degree that it’s easy to call that strength their ‘superpower.’ NONE of them have the same superpower. When these kids take the time to divide up challenges to match their respective superpowers, they accomplish amazing things. In fact, here’s an example of what I mean from just one of the guests, to illustrate the amount of talent they possess.
There’s one blonde girl in the group – tall, thoughtful, not shy but introverted – who is a classmate for R and M. She’s not even twelve yet. She’s EXTREMELY advanced linguistically, and LOVES life sciences. She was in my group to visit the museum exhibits, for phase 3. She wanted to spend the last portion of the party in the Life Sciences lab, handling the Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches that are available for petting. Yes. For REAL!.
As there were four of us in our group, I referred to our team as the ‘fearsome foursome.’ I could tell be the immediate change in her expression that I had played with words in a way that intrigued her. A few minutes later, one of our party pealed off to visit their exhibit of choice. At that moment, my eleven year old blonde charge asked, “What is a good adjective that starts with T-H? The only one I can think of is ‘theocratic’, but I don’t think I want to be ‘the theocratic threesome.’” We also eliminated ‘Thessalonian’ and ‘theatrical’. We still hadn’t found a suitable adjective by the time another member of our group pealed off, leaving us with just two. My suggestion of the ‘gruesome twosome’. made her laugh so hard she snorted.
For most of the hour we spent in Life Sciences, she held a cockroach in her hand and give live demonstrations to the kids, explaining all about the mechanics of how the cockroaches hissed, where they came from, what they ate and why some were brown while others were black in color. The little kids idolized her; the adults thought she was a volunteer. She was clearly in her best element; using her language like a media-trained grownup to discuss interesting living beings.
The whole day was filled with vignettes like this. Like I said, it’s almost like hanging with the X-Men.
At the party end, everyone naturally gathered in the lobby for ‘fond farewells’ and lingering. It was a very good time, well planned to accommodate kids, adults, girls, boys. and all interests.
A triumph without doubt. C has just upped her game for event organizing, I must say. When she can orchestrate the mini X-Men to a unanimously grand good time, she’s the real superhero.
And what about those guests of honor? They had a GREAT time. Their respective friends intermingle nicely, everyone was respected, included and treated as an equal. Even more telling, while they enjoyed the presents they received, they were even more interested in making sure the party favor present each guest received was to their liking. There’s my kids in action; caring deeply about others when it truly matters. Again, it’s like the X-Men, along with their strength they each have flaws. And sometimes behave badly when there pressure’s off. But… add the need to be serious about something, and they snap right to it, doing the Right Thing nearly every time.
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