A Little Pink Magic

In general, I am a bit wishy-washy in my parenting. I do whatever seems like it will work best in the moment without giving in to tantrums and whining. But there are a few things for which I am so impassioned that have enough weight to carry through all the trial and error:

1) If you're in bed, I can't hear you.
2) Keep 'em young for as long as you can.
and
3) Let it be magical.

And aside from Christmas mornings and our recent trip to Disneyland, I can think of nothing more magical than a birthday.

Now that you've seen how it ends...

We had a birthday party for a certain three-year old girlie. A "real boythday party," complete with friends and favors and balloons. And though I justified it to my lovably curmudgeon of a husband who does not think three-year-olds need much more than a toy and a cupcake (and he's right, for the record) with talk of the second child syndrome, (little miss Nora knows enough to keep tabs on what her older brother gets and does with each passing moment, irrespective of age), I really just wanted to give our girlie a day that was all hers — a day with her favorite people doing her favorite things.

Any guesses on what this little girl wanted?

I love the way she signs three and may never have the heart the correct her.

1. All pink.
2. No boys allowed.

And with that, the stage was set for one very pink, very girlie party, complete with pedicures and jewels, fancy dresses and lots and lots of lipstick.

We kicked things off with mommy-daughter pedicures, one of Nora's very favorite things to do on "boys with boys and goyls with goyls" days.

Since Grandma was nice enough to drive 250 miles
to join us (not to mention all the last-minute
run-around she helped wrangle), I let her do the honors.

After the polish dried and the moms all exhaled (they were much more concerned about my carpet than I was), the little girls raided the dress-up clothes while the moms chatted. And as always, I was feeling so grateful that Nora's favorite little people come attached to some really great grown-ups. It really was a great day all around.

Lunch was up next — a feast fit for Pinkalicious herself.
For the little girls:
Peanut butter & pink sandwiches (strawberry jelly)
Strawberries & raspberries
Strawberry yogurt
Pink milk

For the big girls:
Pink tomato soup
Turkey sandwiches with pink cranberry cream cheese
Strawberries & raspberries
Raspberry lemonade

And were I better at party prep timelines, I would now offer up some cute pics of the food, but set-up usually runs right up to when our first guest rings the doorbell, and then I always feel weird scurrying around to take pictures of food and decorations. But it did turn out pretty darn cute, especially once you add in giggling little girls in princess dresses.

To round things out before presents and cake, we opened up the beauty shoppe. I think it was even more entertaining for the moms than it was for the girls. If you want to see just how much your little ones notice from the day-to-day routines of life, give them access to your grown-up stuff and step aside.

And the end result...

Turns out, aside from the bold pink lipstick, the birthday girl prefers a more natural look. she spent at least 20 minutes with the eyeshadow, but only very carefully tapped it on her lashes instead of her eyelids. But she does adore her lipstick and has several times since whined "Mommy, my lips just aren't beautiful" in an attempt to revive the birthday freedom.

 There you have it. A "No Boys Allowed" birthday party for our all-pink three-year-old. Andy has been quick to remind me that she wont even remember this years from now. But I don't mind. Because she smiled and she laughed with her equally wide-eyed friends, and she knew it was a special day just for her. Pretty darn magical if you ask me.