Saturday we celebrated the Ladybug’s birthday with her official birthday party: a princess-themed affair with seven of her friends. Early on the Queen B had been adamant about hosting the party at home, which she thought would be fun, although to be honest the prospect of infesting my home with eight approximate three-year-olds struck me as slightly less fun than, say, unnecessary endodontic therapy. In order to the girls occupied, the Queen B spent the week scouring the web for princess-themed activities and games. On Saturday morning, she organized these into a schedule of events, but once the little girls arrived, the only method by which said schedule was effective at corralling the kids was when it was rolled into a tight tube and used to swat them.
In the end, the little girls decorated princess crowns, made twirly-whirly princess wands, dug up buried jewels that were later strung together to make princess necklaces, and exchanged princess gifts. They also played a game based on The Princess and the Pea, in which a pea — in this case, a green super-ball — is placed under one of three pillows, and the princesses must determine its location by sitting on the pillows.
To preface the game, the Queen B read the girls the story. “The Queen went to the bedroom,” she read, “took off all the sheets and the mattress, and put a pea on the bed.”
To which one little princess curled up her nose. “Gross. The Queen peed on the bed?”
In any event, the little girls — especially the Ladybug — had fun and our house is still standing. Happy birthday, kiddo.