The Party

Sunday came and with it an early wake up time.  Kiddo was in at 7am to “check and see” if we were awake.  We were not, but we got up for her.  I want to note here, she will let us sleep in on Xmas and will have breakfast and  allow us coffee while presents sit under the tree with no complaints.  Sunday was - when are we going finish decorating, when can we blow up the balloons, only 4 hours until my party, now it’s only three and a half hours, etc etc etc.  She was all about the birthday party.

It was fun.  It was wild… ish.  With a half dozen 8/9 year old girls running about, I expected the volume to be something akin to rock concert or jet taking off.  It was not.  I will credit them all that.  They were great.  Fun.  It got excited, but not out of control.  Also, I gotta say… Kiddo picked out some cool friends.  They are interesting, curious, respectful, and they cleaned up after themselves.  Literally asked for the bin so they could throw out wrappers and the like.  “Can I please have a tissue (napkin)?”  Diverse as well.  That was cool.  Taiwanese, Korean, Filipino, Chinese, and half Chinese/Hispanic.  Kiddo was the only American in the group.  A really cool mix… and how cool to go with her Thai culture and knowledge, she’s adding all these others in to her consciousness and personal friend group as well.  How they color her and add little pieces to her.  A few of the parents hung out for the party, but mostly they just dropped off and returned to collect.   

We started with playtime and letting all the kids trickle in.  They played in Kiddo’s room.  Met her turtles.  Did 8 year old girl things.  We heard much subdued shrieking and giggles.  After that, we did pizza and they ate like 8 year old growing girls will.  They crushed two large pizzas between the 6 of them.  Impressive when you think of it.  No girly girls who are shy to eat.  They went to town.  J, being the teacher she is, had a craft for them and that was more fun and giggles and ohhhhs, ahhhhs, and coooooools tossed about as they each did their own thing with the craft.  After that, J took them outside to the playground for an hour and they monkeyed about while I cleaned up lunch and craft time, got cupcakes and birthday candles ready.

Then, it was time for the highlight of the day.  GIFTS!

I wish you could see more than Kiddo’s face, but for privacy and security of the other girls, I redact faces.  In this day and age, you can’t be too careful and I’m not going to chance it with other people’s children, so only Kiddo has her face shown, but the looks and smiles and all as gifts were opened were great.  Again, there was much subdued shrieking and giggling and gasping and COOOOOL et al.  They had a blast.

Kiddo, after the fact, was happy and said thank you to J and I about a dozen times.  She loved her party.  She’s already planning next years shindig.  How did we get such a sweet and thoughtful kid, that she was so thankful and grateful and went out of her way to thank both J and I?  She’s so mindful.  

The rest of the day we chilled.  Kiddo came down off her party high.  We all just bumped around and did our thing, both alone and together until it was bedtime.  Kiddo was out quick that night.  

Other than that, we are just being us.  Not much to note.  It’s a spring in Shanghai and we are learning what that’s like.  Allergies for Kiddo and I.  Some rainy days, some nice ones.  Summer is fast approaching and we will take a trip, but we are staying in China this summer.  I’m not sure what the plan is, but we will take the bullet train somewhere and experience that.  It’s just the adventure of it and seeing the places, enjoying the cultures we see, and taking it all a day at a time.

Kiddo is still drumming and getting pretty darn good at that.  The turtles are growing and doing fine.  We’ve started to mix apples, carrots, asparagus, and other little bits of dinner jetsam into their meals.  Next week they might get some broccoli, but it all depends on the meal choices here and what’s available at the grocery.  They have lasted longer than the fish and we all seem to enjoy them more than fish.  

Lastly, I wanted to take a minute to thank those that read this or follow along on our socials.  I shared all of your birthday wishes to Kiddo and she said thanks, I posted that video here and to the socials, but I wanted to take a minute to say thanks as well.  You made 8 very special for her.  We got over 3 dozen wishes for her.  Not a single family member follows us or read this (to my knowledge), but that she has that many people that will reach out, send Happy Birthday wishes, and that she has connection with means a ton to us.  That she is so special to that many people means a lot to us and says a lot about her and how brave, bold, adventurous, kind, caring, and willing to talk to adults and connect with them in her own way; on top of the peers and friends she has here.  

Let’s go, Kiddo… you are one of the most unique and special people that I have had the pleasure of knowing.  Yes, I am biased, because you are my daughter, but you are still unlike any other kid I’ve met.  Keep being you.  Keep being special.  Keep being brave.  Keep being curious.  Keep using your imagination everyday.