She's Crafty. Sort of.

Actually no. Ask anyone and I will deny being crafty any time, any day of the week.  There was that brief period in the late 90s where I scrapbooked but to that all I can say is, "I got caught up in the frenzy, man!" 

I am thrifty.  I like being economical, hard times or not.  Finding a bargain or way to save money kind of gets me all hot and bothered.  It only seems natural now that I combined the two practices and came up with this idea for The Comedian's last birthday.

Yup, I made cupcake toppers and it was free courtesy of Mooo.com

Face masks for the "Cheeky Monkey" theme at Mooo.com.  Only costs me a $1 for the sticks.

The bags were bought at Micheal's in a pack for less than $5.  Inside I printed out a coloring page and personalized door hanger from Mooo.com and added a Target $1 hardback kids book about fall, crayons from a multi-pack in the party section at Target also under $5 for a set of 8 packs.  Bug tattoos and fake bugs from Oriental Trading Company came to $12 total.  Bags complete!

I purchased a helium tank for $20 (with balloons) and let them hang all over the house.  We had a light snack and blew up our hand-me-down fun house.  All total- $60 was spent for a cute, memorable party that was actually no stress.

Frog tattoo on forehead with two half-sleeves on the arms = priceless.

Obligatory Post Blogher Post

There was a little bit of this

and a little bit of that

Yes, I am licking the blogher sign made out of Ivory soap. Sometimes, I like to lick things. That's not weird or anything is it?

and the weekend wouldn't be complete without a giant dueling unicorn cake courtesy of Sparkleron, now would it?

Oh, right and I attended some really wonderful panels by people like Susan, Britt and Sarah Maizes (watch her book trailer, it's hilarious). This year I felt like I took away a bit of an education for my future, something I lacked last year. I felt lonely at times though as it seemed half my blogging world-turned IRL world friends were missing. Still, I got to dance, room with Sarah yet again (hair, bags of hair to sell on ebay, Sarah. BWAHAHA...) skip sleep, see The Help early and enjoy some time with a bunch of women and even some men who are funny and smart. They make the whole trek cross-country worthwhile. Oh, and I got to meet Jurgen Nation, who I sometimes stalk on Mamapop, so that's cool.




*Unicorn cake image courtesy of surrenderdorothy.typepad.com

Kid's Parties- Is It Just Keeping Up With the Joneses?

Cross-posted and archived from DC Metro Moms.  Original post from February 27, 2008. 

My daughter turned two this weekend. Yes, I know, it is hard to believe. I can barely wrap my brain around it either. However, you know what the hardest part of her turning two was for me? It was- To have a party or not to have a party? It was the ultimate question on my mind. What would people think if we opted out of this birthday milestone? Would we be labeled as bad, unloving parents?


I drove myself mad with this conundrum. I wanted so badly for her birthday to go right I kind of freaked out. There were blog posts about it. I consulted friends and family. Everyone had an opinion and an idea of what I should be doing or forgetting all together. When it came right down to it I felt like my husband and I would be pretty bad parents if we went, what I call the "70s route".

The "70s Route" is a term I use whenever I refer to how things were done when I was a kid. Meaning, no big fuss, usually family-oriented and things were simple. I sometimes think my whole parenting style could be some bad retro comedy in itself except that I'm wearing 'flared' or 'boot-cut' jeans and not bell bottoms.

But I digress...

After talking it over with my husband and feeling that it would make no difference to our daughter we opted for a family day. Meaning just us. Not even grandparents. Why go nuts and spend gobs of money for a kid that did not fully absorb the concept of a birthday anyway? Instead, we made waffles for breakfast complete with extra syrup and let our cutie assist in the making of her cake. She ate raw cake batter too. Before breakfast. The shame. We took the tot to Toys R Us and had just as much fun as she did playing with balls, bikes and blocks. My spouse had to rip me from the Wii games section as I claimed to no avail that the trivia games and underwater discovery discs were for our kid and not me. We spent almost two hours wandering the aisles of this kiddie holy land until we decided to take her out for a birthday lunch. When posed with the question, "Red Robin or Thai?" She yelled out, "I eat Thai food!" So there you go.

It was a good day. Full of fun, presents (the kid got a cart of toys, clothes and more from friends and family) and good old fashioned from the box Duncan Hines cake with chocolate frosting. She wore a birthday crown and blew out her candles. She ran around the house on a sugar high yelling, "BIRTHDAY!" and I have to say I was a bit envious. That 'no care in the world' attitude is infectious but it is also hard to sustain as an adult.

It made me realize that all my fussing and analyzing over what would be the perfect way to spend her day was not only ridiculous but not about her and more about me. I cared more about how other people would view me as a parent if I didn't throw my child a party than I did about the actual day. That is not only insane but also not the '70s route' I so adore. After having all that fun in such an easy manner I've learned something. Next year? I'm not throwing a party then either. Unless of course she wants me to and if that is the case, then she can plan it.


Comments

Stephv said...


Right on for you for common sense. So much of kids stuff (comparing grades, sports teams,etc..) is for the ego feeding of the parents or the need to "look" a certain way. I say who cares?


Here in Silicon valley helicopter parenting has reached absurd


levels, preschools are chosen for their college cachet and God forbid little Katie eats a Cheetoh or anything that is not from Whole Foods.


Retro rocks.


Reply February 27, 2008 at 08:23 AM Gunfighter said...


Brava!






I think that you did the right thing.


Reply February 27, 2008 at 09:36 AM Linda said...


yes, I have to say that we've done this twice now and this is the first year...my oldest is turning four that he has even asked about a party, guests, cake, etc. We're still going the super easy route. Cake at the playground!!!


Reply February 27, 2008 at 10:20 AM Sue said...


That is MY KIND OF PARTY! Way to go. What is better than pancakes and raw cake batter for breakfast?






Another 70s mom here.


Reply February 27, 2008 at 11:20 AM Andrea said...


Good for you!! We like to keep it simple, too. No big parties. The birthday boy gets to pick what he wants for breakfast and dinner, though hubs likes to go all out on making the birthday cakes.


Reply February 27, 2008 at 01:43 PM natalie said...


Yay for the 70's route! I've got a 6-month-old, and I've found myself already thinking about how we'll celebrate his first birthday. Crazy, no? I love the family only silliness approach, and now have the perfect name for it. I keep hearing about the pressure to put together the perfect goodie bags for kids to take away from your parties - way too much stuff and way too much pressure for me! Thanks for this!


Reply February 28, 2008 at 06:49 AM Kristin DeLoach, Graco said...


I love it 70's style! That's the route my husband and I chose for our little lady. Simple, classic fun is the most memorable. Plus we wanted to keep it focused on the "guest of honor" and not everyone else.






By the way, to this day I still ask for that artifical strawberry flavored Duncan Hines cake with the bright pink strawberry icing -fortunately my mom stills obliges :)


Reply February 28, 2008 at 03:10 PM svmom3 said...


Two amazing first birthday ideas I've heard of:






a bubbles party. This one is all about the adults anyway, so pass the champagne (and have a few bottles of bubble soap for people who arrive with toddlers to play with) (I know several people who have gone this route; one who blames bubbles parties on why her kids are all spaced 1 year and 9 months apart)






a thank you ladies for your support party. Leave baby home with dad, and go out with all the women who supported you at the birth and beyond (midwife, doula, close friends, etc). go home and take photo of kid and cake later.


Reply February 28, 2008 at 03:14 PM Vicky said...


Awesome Kristen! I love the strawberry cake and frosting. That was my 6th birthday cake and I still think of it fondly!


Reply February 29, 2008 at 05:20 AM terri said...


my hubs grew up w/the full-fleged bday parties. my parents didnt have the means, just cake & candles. my hubs still smiles remembering. and i see the same in my friends' children, who would plan and anticipate months in advance. so for us, it's not keepin up with the jones, but creating these wonderous-filled moments for our children. cause to be perfectly honest, i'm alittle envious of my hubs' childhood.


Reply March 02, 2008 at 07:34 AM Violet said...


I'm so glad to hear someone else say this! My daughter turns two next week, and we're planning a day at the aquarium and a cake at home. My mother is SO disappointed with me, and thinks I'm terrible for not throwing a party, but we don't know that many kids her age, and I really don't see the point. She'll have more fun at the aquarium with us, and isn't she the one that matters?


Reply March 03, 2008 at 06:12 AM selfmademom said...


It's funny you wrote this because I have a post in queue that I will put up tonight about how I can't put on a low key birthday party no matter how hard I try. But I actually am having fun with it. I think that if it's not fun anymore then it's not worth it.


Reply March 05, 2008 at 07:05 PM children party clowns ny said...


such a very interesting post, i had fun reading it. i am sure your child's birthday party was a splash.

Love the Little Bundle, Hate the Pre-Baby Shin-dig

Cross-posted and archived from DC Metro Moms.  Original post date January 14, 2008.  Thank goodness times are changing and some baby showers are no longer this way.  In fact, The Fifth Element's was a brunch with vodka and champagne.  Fabulous. 

I attended a baby shower this weekend in one of those spacious clubhouses that can only be found in a brand spankin' new community. My friend is about to have her first baby. So I, like many of her other friends, turned out to celebrate this new bundle of joy and welcome her to motherhood.


In theory this is a great idea. Beyond theory it is fabulous for only one person. OK, maybe two. The mother and the baby. The mom gets pampered and showered with attention and she gets the items she needs for little junior's arrival. There's cake too which I believe no event, even a trip to the grocery store, should be without. I love celebrating my friends journey through pregnancy, her impending birth and child's arrival. However, I just can't get beyond the fact that I just loathe baby showers. I dread them with the hatred of a thousand pastel colored burp cloths and a million ill-fitting breast pumps.

My husband seems to think that all women must love going to these events. He sees it like a vacation day for me. We women go without the kids if we have them and it is an afternoon spent with our friends. Pfftt... I say. Sure. Color me a pessimist but I find these events excruciating. Does he really think I enjoy watching someone open a bazillion items from Target, Babies R Us and Pottery Barn Kids for two hours? Items that have already been destroyed and are no longer worth fawning over. Items that you are sick to death of seeing in your own home? Does he even realize how nauseating it is to look at those diapers with Mr. Good-bar in them? Or is that a melted Twix bar? Tasty. Does he realize I do not enjoy eating chicken with rice bits just to score some body lotion or mini-soap. No, he thinks I love it. He thinks all women must love the chance to throw unwanted advice at a new mom. That we live to talk baby talk and discuss the birthin' of the babies. For me that could not be more wrong. His belief gets my baby shower dread ball rolling too.

Then the introvert in me comes out full-force during the event as well. I yearn for darkened corners to eat my cake and punch in peace. My nerves are forever jangling as I make baby small talk and give the sort of advice that warrants putting me in that dark corner anyway. Advice like, "Labor? Piece of cake! I feel smug saying this but Ha! Twelve pushes. Don't worry." I mean this to ease the nerves of the new mom but I end up riling up the rest of the mothers who gather around. Either that or I feel like I sound like I'm drunk and I end up back in the corner nibbling cheese or staring too long at the baby cake. I try to do my part, to be a good friend at these events but I always end up feeling like I come up short. That the fact that I would rather be swillin' a drink laced with vodka vs. daintily eating a tea sandwich is painfully obvious. It probably is. I have never been one to hide my emotions well.

I think what it boils down to is that every shower seems much like the other. The format remains consistent and stuffy. The colors and themes do not change. The elderly aunts and grandmothers are the only ones who truly enjoy these events. It gets harder and harder to ooh and aah over a crocheted whatever with each passing function. While this past weekends baby shower was incredibly easy and not mind-numbingly boring it did make me pause and think. Then vow. I vowed to myself that if I ever throw a baby shower myself it will not be some staid affair. There will be no storks, no pinks and blues. No punch with floating bits of sherbet will come near it. I simply cannot do it. I'll do my best to keep the mother in mind but gosh darn it,as God as my witness, there will be champagne (sparkling cider too of course), music, possibly some Wii or Karoke and NO GAMES. Unless of course those games involve cake.

I can easily say this will never happen. No one will ever ask me to throw them a baby shower simply because they know my hatred of them. That and I think they fear that I might just be sick enough to play 'pin the bootie on the belly' of the new mother just for laughs.


Comments






baby girl said...


I love baby shower, I've been only in two, but still if it a close friend of my it especially fun.


Reply January 14, 2008 at 11:51 AM Linda said...


I always think of that Sex and the City episode where Miranda wants chicken wings at her shower!! I've only been to a few babyshowers, even my own were odd since we were overseas. But my first one was "virtual." We lived in the Middle East. My friends sent all the gifts and we connected on IM and had a virtual baby shower with friends/family while I opened presents in my PJs. It rocked!!!


Reply January 14, 2008 at 01:24 PM merseydotes said...


I hate those hokey games and decorations. At my baby shower, I insisted on only games that could be plaid with a pencil and paper (ie, things you could write down) - no diapers, Baby Ruths, baby food, dolls, etc. It was great. I hosted a shower for a friend, and it was all about good food, white wine, chatting and presents. And great cake.


Reply January 14, 2008 at 01:56 PM Bittermom said...


I would love to attend a baby shower thrown by you.






I do also agree that cake should be served with everything. But only good cake. Please don't even think about going to Walmart for a cake.


Reply January 14, 2008 at 03:22 PM GirlFren said...


Ya know, I hate baby showers, too. I've thrown two and it caused me so much anguish I didn't sleep for days. Just knowing that I was hosting an event that would essentially be endured begrudgingly by everyone in attendance just sent me over the top. Too much to bear. And then, when I was preggers with my son, I had to sit through THREE different baby showers which just made me feel so very very guilty. Guilty for the people who had to come, guilty for all the stuff I was getting, guilty for wishing I could avoid all of it altogether. My wisdom? Showerees and Showerers must abide by these rules: 1) If you are the recipient of a shower, you must remember to be super, super thankful to everybody who comes, everybody who sends you some good wishes, and to the nice people who threw you the shower. Thank them multiple times. 2) If you attend or throw a shower, you must really try to send out good vibes to the guest of honor because that person is special and deserves some happies for their special event, and shouldn't have to feel bad about it. 3. No games.


Reply January 14, 2008 at 04:59 PM Caitlin said...


The worst baby showers I've been to are the ones that got rescheduled because someone thought it would be cute to schedule the original within two weeks of the due date. Usually everyone brings the gifts by the house, so by the time the rescheduled shower rolls around, you feel like you have to buy another gift, because you don't want to look cheap.


Reply January 14, 2008 at 10:12 PM Michele said...


Count me in with the old ladies because I love baby showers. With two caveats -


1 - I dont want it to be one of three or four showers for the new mom. I hate when you spend time, thought and good money on a goft just to have her say "Oh I got this at my work shower and my book club shower too!"


and


2 - I want good food. Champagne or wine is a bonus. If you are going to suck up most of my Saturday or Sunday, at least feed me well.


Reply January 16, 2008 at 01:26 PM LawyerMama said...


I banned games from my baby shower. It was co-ed and at 5pm. Everyone left work early for a little cocktail/happy hour shower with food and booze. It was great. I also told everyone to feel free to ignore me and talk while I opened gifts. If I could have gotten away with not opening them there, I would have! If it weren't for the cake and the large pack 'n play assembled in the room, you wouldn't have known it was a baby shower!

The 90's

Next week I will be journey into the cold, arctic North known as New England.  My grandmother is turning ninety.  Ninety, y'all.  That's a big-time, lets all party down event.  Cake and ice cream will be served. There might be a sash or crown.  Like my grandmother, this event will be ...wait for it...LEGENDARY.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Here is four generations of the family right here.  Many more will be present and I can't wait.