Party Like a Preschooler

This morning, for no reason that I can discern other than the general New Year-ish vibe, BJ announced, "Mommy! We should have a party to celebrate the New Year!"

"Sure!" I said, a little hesitant about what such an activity would involve but trying not to show it. "What should we do?"

"Let me check my book," he said as he dashed to the bookshelf. After a brief search, he located the book he wanted to consult: The Magic School Bus Inside A Hurricane.

OK, not the first text that would occur to me when party planning, but he seemed to have something specific in mind. By this time, BB was interested in the idea of a party and so we sat back and watched him flipping through the book.

"Here!" he said, pointing to the last page of the story. I read over his shoulder: After the field trip, we needed some time to relax. Ms. Frizzle said we could have a party. We had great games, crazy dancing, and yummy snacks.

I laughed. "Well, we just finished our sweet treat after lunch, so I think we've taken care of the yummy snacks part. But we can do some crazy dancing and play great games. What do you think?"

A resounding, "YEAH!" from both the kids was the reply. So we put on TMBG's "Here Comes Science" (which has already become a family favorite; we gave it to the kids for Christmas) and rocked out in the living room. Then we played hide and seek and musical chairs. Both BB and BJ were delighted.

I need to remember that impressing them doesn't always (or even usually) take a lot of work. Conversely, I can spend all sorts of time and energy (and, sometimes, money) setting up Something, and it won't necessarily mean all that much to the kids. Mom's enthusiastic participation is usually enough -- if we're all genuinely having fun and I say, "What a great party that was!" then, to them, it was a great party. I'm sure it won't always be that way, so I should take advantage of it while I can!