The mayhem at a 4 year old's birthday party!

I dread birthday parties to be honest. No, I love attending them but I just hate organizing one. No matter how many lists I draw up, websites I visit for ' Don't forget' tips or sleepless nights I spend, there will always be that one important thing I forget. Every SINGLE time.

Every year, after I host one, I secretly swear that it's the last birthday party. But when you have a kid who knows what he wants and has understood that birthday parties= presents which will keep him occupied for a month, it's only natural that he gets his way everytime. I've begin to note how my kid ( although I guess it happens with every kid), is getting extremely choosy about the kind of cake he wants and who he wants to call to his party.

Not that I have anything against this new hero who my kid simply idolizes, but Ben 10 is a mother's worst nightmare. Or maybe it's just me. Ever since my kid discovered this superhero kid with green eyes and a watch ( yes Ben 10 has a bloody expensive watch), he has been plaguing me with questions like:-

' Mama, I want green eyes also. Like Ben 10.'
' Mama, I want to fight aliens. Like Ben 10'.
' Mama, Ben 10's brother is called Sen 10'.
' Mama, I want to grow up and become like Ben 10'.

So, as you can imagine, I've begin to dread taking my kid to toy shops. Because, somewhere, hidden from my view, will be Ben 10 in full glory. And even if my myopic eyes take 2 hours to scent out Ben 10, you can bet that my kid does it in under 5 minutes. And so, my kid is now the proud owner of 3 Ben 10 t-shirts, a Ben 10 watch, a Ben 10 phone, a Ben 10 ball and possibly in the near future- a Ben 10 hairdo!!

Now as if my life wasn't already complicated enough, my kid gave me the additional challenge of- yes, a Ben 10 cake for his party. If this was Mumbai, Delhi or any other metro, I wouldn't have thought twice. This being Cochin, where everybody orders their birthday cakes from either Hit Breads( by the way, they haven't added anything new to their catalogue. They still have the same cakes my kid sister used to order when she was a kid) and of course, Cocoa Tree. Now both of them don't do Ben 10 cakes. Hmmmm, possibly because they like seeing mums like me beg and beg just so that they get to say a ' No, madam, we sorry.' Me too. So, since I had embarked on a Ben 10 cake hunt, I had to also report dutifully to my son. ' Darling, mama not getting Ben 10 anywhere, can we have a Spider man cake?'. To which he says' But I want Ben 10 cake no? You said Ben 10 no?' and he gives me that puppy dog look which I can never say no to. And so, the hunt for Ben 10's cake ( no wonder I hate that guy so much now) would begin all over again!

Finally, finally I spotted one lady who apparently has introduced the idea of photo cakes in Cochin. And what a heart attack I had when even 2 days prior to the party, I was unable to get through to her to order my cake. And when I finally did, it was with a sigh of relief that in spite of the high price, I could walk away with the reassurance that the cake would taste good but more importantly, feature Ben 10 doing what other normal kids never get to do- shoot aliens!!

I can't tell you how many nights I sat up trying to figure out the right games to have for the party. When I googled ' party games for pre-schoolers', almost all the sites advised having active games as opposed to saner games which require the kids to sit down and play. Probably not much fun for the little ones, but it's probably the only time when the mums get to hear each other talk as well. Anyways, I had finally narrowed it down to musical chairs, pinning the nose on Mickey and a spot of bowling. However, when D-Day did come, I realised that all the kids needed was a play area with a swing, a slide and a few cars and they were good to go. There wasn't any need to have the games at all!! Although I did feel like a fool for having planned so much and too much, it felt good to hear the kids screaming, running, popping balloons and giving other customers a scare now and then.

After the few hours that seem to last a lifetime are done, I turn to my kid and ask- 'Did you have a good time?' And it's when he says 'Yes, mama' and hugs me that it makes all that planning so worth it. But like I said, I swore to myself- ' Never again'. I know my kid better. Next year, he will have a longer list of must-have's for his party and by then am guessing and hoping that Ben 10 will be replaced by another hunkier and chunkier superhero who's somewhat my age!!

@ Raji( I hope you read this because I thought and thought about a good description for you. To me, you're like a shooting star in a navy blue sky. Dont ask me why, it's just the first thing that popped in my head :-))

A little bit of this and that!

( Ta da DAAAAA.... Am back!!!)


Ok, so as promised, this is the first blog post since I made my last promise to write atleast 3 new posts every month. I've realised that once I get started on a new blog post, it's hard to get me off my laptop, but GETTING to it is the hard part. Alright, so let's roll:


1) If I could freeze time forever, I want my kid to stay a 4 year old always. He's at that age that's a sigh of relief for mums- not too dependent yet not all that independent either! So although he insists on doing so many things by himself, he does need you around for a few important things. Plus, I love the way he pronounces such words: Amboloons (ambulance), ravanda(verandah), olso(also), horribil(horrible), showel(shower). I know I should be correcting him but his kiddy pronounciation won't last forever either. And I'd like this cute phase of his to continue for some more time.:-)


2) Right now, my little boy is out of the Barney and Thomas train (was he gay??) phase and is now in the super hero phase! So, I have to now deal with characters like Ben 10, spiderman, batman and what not. Add to that, he has also started to jump from the bed and after he lands proudly claims that he is batman! The last time he told me he had wings, only that I couldnt see them .. :-)


3) I find it so hard to remember the names of all the books I want to read or purchase at some point so what a blessing to find a good Android application that does all the remembering for you! Book catalogue is simply great.


4) I've got quite a few new books all neatly tucked away in my cupboard, but for some reason I feel like re-reading all my old books; a few which have turned a pale yellow as well!! So right now it's Shantaram and The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh for me.


5) I'm back to baking once more. Something so divine about butter being whisked and a light yet rich cake mixture that always tastes better than the end product. Makes me smile all the time. And since I'm extra proud of my cake mix beater, I cant resist whisking an extra 3 minutes everytime. Now that I made a dates and nuts cake, next on the list is a marble cake. and I will list out all the details here I promise!


Ok, bye for now from me... and I'll see you soon. By the way, I've been thinking. What phrase describes you best? For my sister its ' angelic imp' and another dear relative claims that he is 'like the wind'. I thought long and hard about what would describe me. I thought of ' a naughty ray of sunshine'. But I'd love to hear what you my dear readers would use to describe me. Maybe I'll change the earlier phrase about myself too!! Do drop a line and tell me what you think :-)) what phrase would describe you??