Our divine older granddaughter Immy turned four years of age last Wednesday. Whilst I am grappling with the concept that those years have passed in the blink of an eye, I can take the opportunity to look back at her previous birthday celebrations.
Her first birthday at Whiteman Park was, frankly, much more about the adults than the children. Immy was not walking then and was just delighted to sit or crawl in the shade, chilling with the other invited toddlers and having dirt and leaves removed from her curious mouth.
Immy's birthday number 2 was Blippi themed. For anybody unfamiliar with the blue and orange American YouTube kiddy sensation, Blippi helped Cal and Bron with teeth cleaning every bedtime for about a year, after Immy caught some dreaded lurgy that resulted in her teeth being very sore. Vale Blippi!
Then there was the rise and fall of Emma Wiggle. Imogen absolutely adored yellow dressed dancer and drummer Emma during her sojourn with the Wiggles. When Emma chose to part ways with the rest of the Wiggles, her fall from grace in Immy's eyes was immediate and brutal. However, Emma hung around long enough to become the star of Imogen's third birthday party before her demise.
And yesterday, we were treated to "Frozen". Maybe I am too old to embrace another Disney movie with a story of love and redemption. Or I have become immune to all the cute characters and the appropriately themed songs. This is the synopsis for anybody remotely interested -
"Snow Queen Elsa inadvertently uses her power to make her kingdom experience constant wintriness. Her sister Anna teams up with mountaineer Kristoff and his reindeer to demolish the snowy spell."
Anyway, Rob and Michelle (Bron's parents) bravely offered their backyard for Imogen's fourth Frozen birthday party. There were Frozen dresses, Frozen cupcakes, Frozen drinks, Frozen lolly bags and a Frozen bouncy castle, well secured to the lawn. Rob had even constructed a wooden swing set and playground gear next to the bouncy castle. And there were children, mostly little girls, everywhere.
I had completely forgotten the ear piercing shrieks that little girls let rip courtesy of their voice-boxes. The backyard was inundated with small two legged creatures running amok with enough noise to wake the dead. The only time they sat still was when they were drinking, cross-legged as they had all been taught in day care or playgroup.
Did I enjoy myself? You bet your sweet bippy. I had fabulous Nanny Kate time with Violet and was thoroughly entertained by the occasional squabbles, tiffs or disagreements between the small party attendees. Immy was Queen for her day and nobody was allowed to forget that most important of facts. I watched other parents trying to sooth ruffled feathers before a declaration of war. I was taken back to my own hilarious memories of distracting, apologising and placating small dictators before they grabbed a toy forcibly from another child or whacked their supposedly best friend.
I have demonstrated, particularly with Callum and Alex, that even the most totalitarian of children grow up to become mostly reasonable, tolerant and empathetic adults. We need to allow our kids to be kids, even if their behaviour sometimes has us ducking for cover.
Imogen was bright red in the face, exhausted and rather uncooperative for family photos at the end of her shindig. However, her fabulous Daddy was able to calm her impressive scowl with sweet talking to allow for her besotted grandparents to add photos to the albums.
I can't wait for Imogen's next amazing birthday soiree. Well done to Team Immy on another successful party with no injuries and no reports!
A granddaughter with her Grandpa...
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