What is it about?

The rollercoaster adventures of parenting three kids, dealing with disability and mental health - and discussing disability discrimination and how to tackle it.

Tuesday 6 November 2007

Birthday Party Trouble


Mister Determined's birthday is coming up, and I don't know what to do.
Unlike last year, he wants to invite his whole class. That's OK by me. But the other thing he wants to do is "do a show" for them. That would be OK if his "shows" would be the sort of thing other kids enjoy. But I'm afraid that they are not. His current repertoire includes loud singing and shouting, none of which with any theme or logical thread. Off course, we watch his shows daily, and clap profusely, but 20-odd six year olds just won't react in quite the same way.
Hubby and I are thinking of getting a clown or magician to come who will let Mister D. be part of the show. Ideally, we'd go to one of those soft play playgrounds to get him out of his familiar surroundings so he feels less in control, and less like the boss. Thing is, we really can't afford to do both (if you know that we're talking about $ 300 plus for a performance, and the same amount again for hiring one of those soft play places). The other thing he'd really like is a pool party. Trouble is, at his age, the kids get dropped off, and there is just no way I'm going to be responsible fro 20 plus kids in my pool - especially not with its resident snake underneath. I know most of these kids can swim, and I know snakes will hide away when they see a throng of kids coming (who wouldn't) but it would be just my luck that something super-unusual happens. No way.
So I'm mulling over the options (leaning towards the show at home, with a possibility for a swim after the party on the condition that the children's parents are present - no supervising parent, no swim). Argghhh, last year's birthday party, sad as it was, was definitely easier....

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