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November 5, 2004/Cheshvan 21 5765, Vol. 57, No. 10
'I have my loot bag ... let's go'
LILA BALTMAN
Special to the Jewish News
Becoming first-time parents means that you and your spouse will suddenly enter into many new and exciting "worlds" together.
For instance, there's the new world of baby playgroups, baby classes, family-friendly restaurants, and the baby food aisle at your local grocery store.
When your baby makes it to the 1-year milestone, and all of his little friends start turning 1 year old, you and your spouse will suddenly find yourselves entering into the whole new world of "children's birthday parties."
In no time at all, your fridge will be covered with one birthday party invitation after another, and your weekends will soon be booked up.
It's been four years now since my husband and I entered into this world, and my trips to the Dollar Store to purchase wrapping paper, gift bags and birthday cards have become a monthly ritual. When I go into Target, Toys "R" Us or Baby Gap, asking for a gift receipt at the cash register feels like second nature to me.
Ever since the first Elmo invitation arrived in our mailbox, my family and I have enjoyed countless hours eating slices of pizza and birthday cake together, singing the "Happy Birthday" song, pinning tails on donkeys, and opening up the very generous loot bags on the car rides home.
These weekend birthday parties have become, without a doubt, my family's number one form of entertainment and recreation. Our photo albums are filled with pictures of the four of us "partying" together at one creative celebration after another.
We have been to fun-filled birthday parties at the Phoenix Zoo, Bank One Ballpark and America West Arena. We have photos of us standing next to Barney, Dora the Explorer and even Shrek himself. We have given "high-fives" and hugs to Batman, Spiderman and SpongeBob SquarePants. We have taken rides on Thomas the Tank Engine and Jay, Jay the Jet Plane and even "Yippee-Ki-Ayed" with the cowboys over at Rawhide.
And trust me, it's not just the kids having fun at these kiddy parties - the mommies and daddies are having a great time too.
I particularly love it when we get a party invitation that asks us to come dressed in some sort of color or costume. When my friend's 4-year-old son was having a "Fire Engine" party, we all showed up wearing fire engine red.
When we got our invitation to a "Wiggles" party, I dressed the four of us up in different colored T-shirts just like The Wiggles themselves, even though I have absolutely no idea who I went as, only that I was the red Wiggle.
And when my son was 2 years old and got invited to a "princess" party, I dressed him up like Kermit the Frog with a little note attached to his costume: "Please Kiss Me So I Can Turn Back Into a Prince."
At the end of the party, after I wiped a lot of lipstick off of him, I took his frog costume off and revealed his little T-shirt underneath, which read "Prince Evan."
It is these priceless moments and precious memories that make these birthday parties so much fun.
I have actually had the best time at all the "gym" parties we have attended, whether at Gymboree, My Gym, The Little Gym or The Arizona Sunrays Gymnastics School. I used to love doing gymnastics when I was a little girl, so when we get invited to a gymnastics party, I wait for my turn to jump on the trampoline, practice my cartwheels and handstands, and hang from the uneven parallel bars. Then I reward myself with an extra-big piece of birthday cake. It's great.
At this point in time, my 4-year-old has logged so many birthday party hours, that he now asks me on the car ride to the party, "Mommy, what will the theme be at today's party?"
He is also very aware of the sequence of events at a birthday party. So now, after he has finished his slice of birthday cake, said his "thank you" and "goodbye" to the birthday child, and been given his little loot bag, he finds me in the crowd of parents and says, "OK Mommy, I have my loot bag ... let's go."
Lila Baltman is a free-lance writer in Phoenix. Contact her at baltman@qwest.net.
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