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Category: Raising Girls

How to keep guests happy at a one-year-old’s princess party – birthday food ideas

NOW I’ve started this princess party planning thing for Baby Holly’s first birthday, I’ve become just a tad hooked. And because I still need to keep the blog up, I’m combining my two current obsessions. Aren’t you lucky. No need to thank me.

Now that the invitation is done, I’ve gone for the most important element next – the food. These are the things I know about keeping adults and children happy at an afternoon birthday party (recipes to come in a later post):

Heart Hamwiches (and Princess Ella has requested some with dots on them – ie a fairy bread version)

Baby BLTs (these are too cute. Enough said, really)

Chewy Chocolate Slice (no party is complete without white dresses covered in chocolate)

Pink cupcakes (yes, of course they’ll be pink)

Homemade sausage rolls (it wouldn’t be a party without sausage meat in pastry)

Dips, cheese, chips and biscuits (ah, did I mention it’s a party) Photo credit.

Fruit platter (just to balance out the sugar and salt. And Baby Holly’s got to eat something) Photo credit.

I also usually include baby rice cakes, dried apple and other finger food for those low on teeth (yes, that’s counting grandparents).

And, as per usual, I’ll cook too much and we’ll be eating it for the next fortnight.

I’m still undecided on the cake at this stage. Princess Ella chose this one for her baby sister. Of course.

And then this one:

Hmmm, talk about testing me.

What are your favourite party foods? Am I missing anything?

Images from Donna Hay Kids’ Magazine Annual 8, The Australian Women’s Weekly cookbooks Kids’ Birthday Cakes and The Australian Women’s Weekly Kids’ Perfect Party Book.

September 16, 2011
It’s my party and I’ll create a free downloadable princess birthday invitation if I want to

SIX months before Princess Ella’s first birthday, I had everything planned to a tee. There was the cake:

I should have been a cake decorator.

All the presents:

Should have been a professional shopper too.

Party games to test the patience of one-year-olds (and parents), guest list that exceeded the space available in our house and event timeline, which went out the window when someone arrived half an hour late. I know, I can hear you all saying “she should have been an event planner’’. No really, I should have.

However, Baby Holly’s first birthday is 2.5 weeks away and I’ve done… nothing. Well, up until a phone call with the lovely Louisa of Everything Is Edible, who has her little Bear’s first birthday planned to within an inch of its life – a birthday which is AFTER Holly’s. It was enough motivation to get my butt into gear.

I might add here that this is not the norm for this list-making, control freak planner. It has something to do with the last one getting out of hand and life having me busier than Angelina Jolie in an orphanage.

Thanks to my wonderful online friends, I now know what to buy a girl for her first birthday when her sister got it all the first time around. It’s been even more important since discovering the Kmart Christmas layby, which included a few items for Holly’s birthday, can’t be picked up until… Christmas. I probably should have seen that one coming, right?

Now I’ve done the invitation. Feel free to download it if you can’t be bothered either making your own or forking out money for expensive ones with special envelopes.

Yep, should have been a stationary designer. Instead, I’ll go and change another pooey nappy. Hmm, of all the things I could be doing…

So this week, I’m thankful for Lou, thankful for my incredible talent (OK, maybe more like Microsoft Word) and thankful for my online friends.

Linking up with the lovely Kate Says Stuff’s Thankful Thursday. Click on the link to find out what others are thankful for this week.

Do you get full-on into party planning mode or do you leave everything to the last minute?

PS. I know these parties are more about parents celebrating surviving the “challenging’’ first year, but in 10 years time Holly would never let me hear the end of it if she discovered she never had one and her sister did. I know, I have a sister.

September 15, 2011
Cherish your cherubs: Praise the lord… or the children, at least
OUR parenting style is a mish mash of techniques from the thousands of parenting books we own. Did we really need that many? Part of it is positive reinforcement. We praise good behaviour and (try to) ignore bad behaviour.

So when I read that Naomi from Seven Cherub’s Cherish Your Cherubs project this week was to “praise’’, it seemed a pretty simple task for me. This week’s task is a follow on from Week 1: Record, Week 2: Remember and Week 3: Interview.

Our weekend was spent in Hobart, primarily to attend a wedding. Here are some of the highlights of Princess Ella’s good behaviour and reasons to praise:
- We went shopping on Friday and Ella patiently waited the five minutes until the Cat and Fiddle Arcade clock began to play. After her little happy dance, I gave her Praise: “Well done for being so patient, darling.’’
- We then happened upon a David Hamilton puppet show. We had to wait 15 minutes until it began. Ella sat near the front of the stage and, again, patiently waited. She even befriended another little girl and offered her one of her stickers. Apparently, “she said she didn’t want a sticker’’. Praise: “That was such a lovely thing to want to share your stickers with someone else. I’m so proud of you.’’ (She even got an ice cream for being super special).
- Saturday morning we walked through Salamanca Market with friends, followed by the littlies taking turns blowing bubbles in the park. They also picked tulips from the public garden. Whatever you do, don’t tell the Hobart council gardener. Praise: “You played so wonderfully with your friends.’’
- Saturday afternoon was the wedding. Ella sat quietly with her auntie during the entire ceremony. Apart from the “why is he crying?’’ when the groom made his vowels and the “I’m an O’Brien too, aren’t I?’’ when the celebrant asked us to “welcome the new Mr and Mrs O’Brien’’. Praise: “Good girl for sitting quietly during the wedding. You did a great job.’’
- That night and the next morning, Ella got to spend time with her auntie, uncle and teenage cousins at the hotel. When the two female cousins spotted Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation team captain and comedian Josh Thomas, Ella helped their cause of attracting his attention by yelling out: “hello?’’. It’s fair to say, her cousins turned a little pink in the cheeks after that effort. Praise: “Teeheehee.’’
I might add that, due to being so overtired when we got home, her night last night didn’t end well. Usually we have lovely books, songs, a couple of jokes and the all-important kisses and cuddles before she lies her head down. Last night, it ended with a simple “I love you’’ from me and lots of crying from her. It’s pretty rare for this to happen in our house, but just goes to show we can’t win `em all.

What have you praised your child for today?
September 12, 2011
How to survive your baby starting childcare
THIS week was the start of a thousand tears. My baby girl made her first leap into childcare. OK, so it was only for an hour for orientation. And the tears? Well, they were all mine. Yes, we can see who has the issues here.

So, after that first experience, these are the things I know:
- This could be the longest orientation period of any child at that particular childcare centre. Baby Holly clung to me like cow excrement to a gumboot.
- Over the past year she’s been happy to go to anyone for a cuddle, but two weeks ago she suddenly became shier than an 18-year-old after their first night on the town. Wishing we had have started two weeks earlier now.
- A large part of the problem may be the vibes she’s getting from me. I know I need to chill out – or drink a shot of vodka beforehand. Or maybe not.
- Bringing her big sister into the room was a great idea, because she loosened up a little. Even if her big sister was more interested in going back to “her friends’’. “I need to go and see what *Gertrude’s doing’’. Of course you do, darling. Don’t worry about your mum and your sister. We’ll just continue our mini meltdown.
- There will be quite a few tears in the coming weeks – from her and me!
- Now, at age four, her big sister wants to go to “school’’ every day and happily tottles off without a backward glance. I need to keep remembering this early period of trepidation will be short lived.
- If we make little progress in the coming weeks, I know I need to just walk away. Even if it means crying for an hour in the carpark. In Ella’s early days, she always settled within seconds after I left, proving that sometimes it’s us mums who are the problem.
- Take tissues. Lots of tissues.
- My little girl is growing up all too fast. Please, someone, hit the pause button for me.
*Not her real name. Heaven help us if it was.

I’m linking up Shae from Yay for Home’s Things I Know.
September 9, 2011
This journalist’s biggest interview yet

Getting Princess Ella's attention yesterday for an interview was… challenging.

WEEK three of Naomi of Seven Cherubs’ Cherish Your Cherubs project is to interview your child/dren. It follows Week 1: Record and Week 2: Remember. My day job, when I’m not wiping bums and faces, is a journalist and PR consultant. So you’d think I’d be OK with this one. Think again.

I’ve been blessed to chat to all manner of people from big name musicians to TV and film stars and comedians. None of them compare to the diva that is Princess Ella. After discovering the hidden dictaphone, she even went on to demand a rider with orange juice and blue M&Ms. Well, maybe not.

I had every intention of uploading the audio from my dictaphone for you all to hear, but it took six goes to get the transcript below and I’m sure you don’t want to sit through ALL that. So, here’s the edited version of the interview conducted while overlooking a Father’s Day card she made at childcare (aka “school’’):

Kel: What was your favourite part of Father’s Day?

Ella: (screams) The PRESENTS. And the cupcake.

Kel: Did you know your Dad was named in the top 5 Mentally Sexy Dads today? What do you think about that?

Ella: (shyly) Good.

I explain how special it is that others now know what we’ve always known about him. Oh, and that it also now means he’s won a special new Dyson vacuum.

Ella: (excitement becomes too much) Woohoo!

Kel: Are you going to use it?

Ella: Yessssss!! (jumps up and down as if she’s just scored herself a new toy. If only she’d have the same amount of enthusiasm for a vacuum in a few years time).

Kel: What do you love most about your dad?

Ella: I love to have kisses with him and cuddles. He’s good at playing Snap and pass the parcel.

Kel (looking over the Father’s Day cards she made): What’s your favourite colour?

Ella: (points at the card) That colour, that colour and that colour.

Kel: Haven’t you been doing colours at school?

Ella: Yes. (Does Auslan sign language for pink and for purple. This is a good segway into emotions, which she’s also learnt through Auslan)

Kel: What makes you sad?

Ella: When I crash on something.

Kel: What makes you angry?

Ella: When Daddy talks on the phone and he doesn’t hear me.

Kel: What makes you happy?

Ella: When daddy doesn’t talk.

Kel: What makes you giggle?

Ella: My party.

Kel: What party?

Ella: My party that I had the other day with Nanny and Poppy and Molly. (She means her birthday 10 months ago. Yes, it’s fair to say she’s already counting down the days ’til the next one).

I hope no one uses this interview as the basis for employing me into the future!

What funny things do your children say?

September 5, 2011
What to buy a girl for her first birthday
Baby Holy showing off her tongue-twirling technique (please, turn a blind eye to the dust under the TV)

LAST week Shae from Yay For Home posted about the things she “didn’t know’’. Actually, I could write a book on that subject. But anyway, I digress. So, this week, because I have a burning question I need you all to help me answer, I thought I’d turn the Things I Know post on its head too to try and solve the mystery of what to buy Baby Holly for her first birthday next month.

So, here goes:
- I don’t know what to buy a girl for her first birthday when her sister got it all the first time around. Her big sister, Ella, suggested a beach towel yesterday. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.
- I don’t know what to then buy her for Christmas, which is only two months later.
- I don’t know if just going for the ol’ books and clothes thing will cut it. Maybe also one of those walker-come-bike contraptions considering she’s yearning to learn to walk at the moment. I’m not so crazy on the walking idea!
- I don’t know why it’s so easy to come up with a million ideas for Ella’s fourth birthday, but just one for Baby Holly’s first year celebration is doing my head in. In fact, Ella’s shopping is all done and her birthday is a month later.
So, any help would be gratefully appreciated. Feel free to add links to sites you know and love as well.

I’m linking up Shae from Yay for Home’s Things I Know.
September 2, 2011