Grab your cup of something warm and let's reminisce...
Think back on the birthdays of your childhood. Do you remember them? I do. My Dad worked with a lady that made Snoopy cakes, and Samina and I were always thrilled when we got one! My Mom was one of the most creative ladies I know and she always had some sort of craft for us to make. We lived in married housing at U of M, and there was a wood in front of our townhouse. I remember one year my mother had us go outside and choose three to four different leaves from the edge of the wood. When we came back in and she gave us brown paper lunch sack and crayons with the paper peeled away. We, carefully put the leaves in the sacks and did leaf rubbings to decorate our bags. Then we wrote our names on them and Voila, personalized lunch bags!
These days those bags would have been used as treat bags, that would be filled with all sorts of plastic junk... Really Moms...realistically what has your child received in a treat bag that they just treasure. Most of the stuff we have received has been tossed within a week or two. Also, if you want a personalized lunch bag may I recommend Pottery Barn Kids? When on sale the price is really quite reasonable. Definitely not as creative, but it will last a lot longer!
Birthday parties of today are usually at a venue . And in speaking with a friend today it really is worth it. Today we had a party for Gracie at Maplewood Lanes in Saline. The kids bowled a game...which took a while since it was a fair sized group. They had pizza and cake and we had a great time! And all for about 9 bucks a kid! Gracie has either had, or been invited to parties at Chuck E. Cheese, Jungle Java, Putt and Glow, Build a Bear and other places. And they are all fun, cost effective, and you don't have to clean your house before and after.
But I have to say...I miss the parties of old. The ones in your home, where you open your house to your kids friends and they feel welcome and part of your family for a little while. I miss the days when the kids all knew the parents and there was a sense of community there.
We are blessed to have a daughter that has made some great friends. Most of their parents have the same morals and values that we do and it is a great thing to know we are on the same page. I still crave that old sense of community. The old neighborhood feel. That feeling where everyone knew everyone else within a mile of their home and they all looked out for one another.
But we have to create that for ourselves. It doesn't just happen.
Today as I scanned the birthday party for a minute, not participating but just observing I did see a bit of that. Kids were laughing and parents were chatting with one another. It was so nice to know that these people had taken time out of their days and schedules to bring there kids to Gracie's party to celebrate her. I was grateful for her "network" of friends. I was grateful that for the most part they all knew someone else there and they all got along.
When you step back and look at these moments in life you can't keep the smile from breaking across your face. When I see my daughter laughing from her gut, her smile full of gaps as the adult teeth fight to crowd out the baby teeth, as I see her brother smile at the sound of her laugh, and scan the crowd to see her Dad and her Papa standing together and grinning my soul is happy. As I see the kids and adults that we are blessed to call friends I can't help but be humbled by the wisdom of God to cross these people in our path.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, you will hear a lot more about how God continues to bless me. But for now my gratitude is for these moments. The sunshine yellow blocks in the quilt of my life!
