Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Party like it's your birthday

April 13, 2018

Lucy turns 9 Monday
This is the first year we've not had a birthday party
Her choice, not ours
When she turned 2, Lucy loved Nemo
So we turned the house into the Great Barrier Reef complete with jelly fish, swimming fish and waves
At 3, we transformed the living room into a zoo with wild (stuffed) animals lurking around each corner
For her 4th party, we went on a dinosaur dig
There were excavation sites, a dinosaur egg hunt and homemade fossils
By 5, Luce was a full fledge cat lady and decided a Kitty Party would be the perfect way to comemerate her milestone birthday
We had a cat adoption center with kitties (stuffed) and adoption certificates, kitty crafts and a mouse hunt
By 6, Lucy had developed a love of Pokémon and that was the chosen theme
So with red and black sharpies, we turned 100 ping pong balls into poke balls
The kids designed and created their own Pokémons and we all became trainers
When she turned 6, Sean introduced her to Star Wars
She was hooked
So birthday 7 was Star Wars themed
We made light sabers and learned how fight like a Jedi
We battled storm troopers, and Darth Vader and pinned the saber on Yoda
At 8, Harry Potter was the favorite
We made wands and practiced spells from our spell books
We hatched dragon eggs, attended potions class and had a Quidditch Match
Then, we searched the yard for the Golden Snitch
8 was a kick ass party
I could not wait for her 9th birthday party
But this year, on the cusp of 9, Lucy announced she did not want a party
I was gutted.......I love planning and hosting her parties....
When I asked her why, she just shrugged and said just because
So I did not push
Instead, we asked what she wanted to do
Without hesitation, she requested a day of fun with her oldest and dearest pal Jake and then a sleepover movie night with pizza and white cake because Jake does not like chocolate
No problem we said, we'll make it happen
We can also have a party I offered....
No thank you Mumma...
A few nights ago, she finally told me why she did not want a party
It made my heart hurt a little but also made me marvel at how far she has come
She is more self aware and better able to self regulate
She's stronger and more mature
And she is able to look at things more matter of factly and from more than one point of view
She still struggles and sometimes it all gets the best of her
But she's being the best Lucy she can be
And somehow, she's hung onto her naive innocence
*sigh*
She's turning 9
No party
No ping pong balls being turned into snitches or poke balls
No light sabers, wands, spell books or dinosaur digs
No fanfare
But she's promised me we'll still have cake....

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