Birthday Party with Cinderella

my daughter had her birthday last saturday.

she was pretty excited about it because cinderella was coming. and apparently, all her friends who knew that cinderella was coming, were pretty excited too.

the children were treated to an afternoon with cinderella. or should i say, the girls were treated to an afternoon with cinderella.

the boys just couldn't be bothered. sure, they all rushed up the stairs when they found out that cinderella has arrived. but after the initial awe of being with the princess, they all moved back to the basement where the playstation and air hockey was waiting for them.

so cinderella had the girls with her. she did story telling. of course, what better story to tell than her own story of how she met her prince.



she put on makeup on all the girls.



she taught them some songs.



they had some games.



she gave each one a picture of her with a personalized autograph.



and they ended the afternoon by singing happy birthday to my daughter.



it was a great party and my daughter couldn't be happier. she said it was her best party ever.
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A Hands-On Birthday Girl

my daughter's birthday is coming up soon.

if you have a daughter like mine, you would know that party preparation could be quite tedious. my daughter is only 5 and yet, when it comes to her parties, she is very hands-on. it was on her 4th birthday that she started expressing her interest in being involved. she likes being involved in everything - the invitations, the food, the games, the lootbags, and would you believe even on what plates and utensils to use?

she has a list of what she wants done and would constantly remind me. she would say, "mom, we need to give out the invitations by this date. have you started it?" yup! she is the boss of me. hahaha...

when i was not as busy as i am now, i didn't mind the little details. we would make her invitation together and would really customize it according to what she wants. but now that things have been hectic, it has been a struggle to attend to the little details.

it was very fortunate that my friend introduced me to vistaprint. apparently, business cards are not their sole product. they also print out invitations, announcements, checks, rubber stamps, car magnets and a lot more.

what i liked most about them is that you can easily customize your own invitation. so it's a win-win situation for me and my daughter. she gets to have the look she wants without me having to work hard for it. i can create it whenever i'm free and vistaprint will mail them to me. it definitely eases up my work and the quality is always superb. it's simple, fast and easy and gives me more time to attend to other party details.

this year, we have hired cinderella to come and join her party. she is extremely excited about it and can't wait to be the princess of the day.
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Canadian vs. Filipino Parties

we had a very long day last saturday.

my kids had an activity at 10am. a children's party at 2pm. and still another children's party at 5pm.

the 2pm party was the "typical canadian" children's party where only my daughter was invited. it lasted about 1 and 1/2 half hours. they were served pizza and cake. and given a lootbag before leaving the party. its really quite simple.

i remember the first time they were invited to a party. i was uncomfortable with the fact that i had to just drop them off and pick them up again. in the philippines, it goes without saying that when your child gets invited, the yaya is invited too. we do not leave them alone to attend a party by themselves. especially when they're just 5 years old.


but that's how it is done here. only the child is invited. the party would last between 1 1/2 to 3 hours and usually involves a specific activity (i.e. swimming, mini-golf, arcade, etc). they almost always serve pizza and cake. and the kids get a lootbag to bring home.

the 5pm party, on the other hand, turned out to be a "typical filipino" children's party. when the classmate of my daughter invited the whole family to attend, i thought they were just being nice. we are "friends" after all.

so what is a "typical filipino" children's party?

it's a party where not just the kid is invited. but her whole family as well. where the adults far outnumber the kids. maybe a 5:1 ratio. where the buffet table is overflowing with food meant to satisfy the adults and not the kids. definitely no pizza anywhere in sight. where the activities are varied and satisfies both the kids and the adults. there were parlor games for the adults as well. where balloons are scattered everywhere. balloons rarely make it to the "typical canadian" party. where not only the children get lootbags but the adults as well. in the form of take outs. where the party lasts into the wee hours of the night. we left at 10pm and were considered to have "left early."

and most importantly, it's a party where people start coming in at 6pm when the invitation clearly says 5pm.

i miss these parties. you just gotta love filipino parties.

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My First Encounter: Birthday Parties

my son is attending a birthday party today. no, not his classmate this year but a classmate from last year. and he's excited.

im excited too. every time he gets invited to one, i am happy for him. because being invited to a birthday party here is not like being invited to a party in the philippines. being invited here is like a seal of approval.

in fact, one of the mommies i regularly hang out with (who is not a filipino) takes birthday invitations really seriously. whenever her son gets one, she always has to ask me whether my son is going too.


the very first time she asked me, i thought she just wanted to know who's coming and who's not. so i thought it best to let her know that my son is also attending the other 2 invitations as well.

that's when i found out. the look on her face said it all. not everyone gets invited.

being a classmate doesn't automatically mean you get an invitation. so it's a good thing to be invited. to be in the circle. the more friends you have, the more invitations you get.

even your mom's friendliness comes into the equation. the friendlier your mom is to the other moms, the more chances of being invited. just recently, my son was one of 3boys invited to a dominantly girls party just because i was "friends" with the mom.

so try to imagine the look on my face when my non-filipino friend told me that she met the other mom and asked why her son wasn't invited. talk about being competitive.

back home, we dont have this. i have yet to talk to a mom who got stressed because her kid wasn't invited to a party. back home, everyone gets invited (at least in the grade school level).

if you're a classmate, then you're invited. as they say, invited ang buong barangay!
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