good times, good times

Perhaps 12 kids was a bit ambitious. After all, I don't have 12 dining chairs. I have 6 (if you count the two that kind of match the 4). But thankfully I do have just enough cute farmhouse chairs happy to be called upon for a festive occasion. The blue and aqua tablecloth is a thrift store favourite, and inspired the colour theme.

Vintage-y fabric pennants decorated the doorways. They're so sweet I haven't taken them down yet. (I'll be carrying these in my new shop, by the way, so don't even think about using one of those mylar banners!)



I enlarged the decorative alphabet I made for the cupcake liner decoration (an idea I saw at shimandsons) cut them out and glued them to paper plates. I love those 3M removable hanger things that don't damage walls. And painter's tape for affixing balloons. If you're interested in the alphabet template for your own party, send me a note and I'll email it to you.



I took portraits of kids as they arrived against a scrim I fashioned from a groovy piece of fabric and a rolling rack. Don't you adore little girls in party dresses and patent shoes? Sigh. So cute.

We played "Pass the Present", an easy party game with less chance for hurt feelings and bruised shins than musical chairs. Pre-schoolers are tough characters, after all. Do you remember how to play? Wrap prizes in multiple layers of paper, have the kids sit in a circle and pass the present while the music plays. When the music stops whoever is holding the present unwraps one layer, and so on until the kid who unwraps the final layer keeps the prize. Simple fun. We also had a pinata - not the swinging broomstick kind - and that went over quite well while the hotly anticipated magic show was set-up.

Our magical wizard arrived on schedule at 3:00 with a flourish of purple velvet robes. He quickly surveyed the corner of the room we had sectioned off for the show, pronounced it satisfactory and set up his worn but impressive looking steamer trunks. Our gathering of children and parents assembled on the floor, bags of popcorn in hand.

I really did think the wizard was going to put on a shirt underneath the deep, deep, deep V-neck robe before the show began. The gold medallion around his neck was a bit distracting against all that bare skin. From my vantage point on the floor I could see he was also sockless in his un-wizardly loafers, so I suppose he was a fellow not fussed with underpinnings.

It started off promising enough with some good sleight of hand and rope tricks. The kids were loving it, so I overlooked the magic wand held together with electrical tape and the yellowed and peeling flash cards he kept inside a rumpled paper bag. The soggy donut he procured from god knows where and made Stella bite into before setting it aflame an inch from her hair was more of a concern.

We all laughed at the first pee joke. Sort of giggled and scratched our heads at the second one. I think it was at the first dumb blonde joke - directed at a brunette mom - that I felt 24 pairs of parental eyes pivot in my direction. Oh dear. The salty schtick continued as I watched the digital clock on the TV mete out the next 45 minutes, hoping no one was going to storm out. Because who knows what the wizard might have done to them?

Fortunately no one left in a huff. And neither the bunny nor the dove pooped on the carpet or bit any little fingers. And the balloon animals at the end of the show were a big hit, though no one could say exactly what animal was what. Lobsters? Mice? Later there were reports that one kid's balloon sword came unravelled and the wizard told him "Sorry kid, I don't do repairs." With that he left as he arrived, in a flourish of velvet robes.

It all brought to mind one of my favourite kid's songs:

Godfrey
by Robbie Fulks

Who's the feller by the jungle gym?
All the children in town love him.
He can pull a pigeon or a root beer float
Out from his camel's hair overcoat.
He's kinda cranky and he coughs real loud,
But that's no matter to the pint-sized crowd.
He's their hero because they know
He just loves to do his magic show!

(And what's his name?)
Godfrey, the sickly unemployed amateur children's magician,
He's got wonders up his sleeve.
Godfrey, the sickly unemployed amateur children's magician,
If you'll only make-believe....


It was a memorable day.