Saturday Alyce attended a birthday party for at Bounce U. This is the same Bounce U she's attended in the past for other birthday parties. This time it was for her classmate Mckenna. We were 5 minutes late getting her there because of swimming lessons and haircuts. When we finally showed up Alyce melded into the crowd like an old pro at Bounce U.
It was very funny to see how a few months can make a difference in a set of children. When we had our first party there last October most of the kids were a little cautious with all of the equipment and each other. Now, 5 months later they are running around like they own the place. Alyce first ripped her shoes off and put them in a cubby without me having to say anything. Next she hit the big blowup slide grabbing a mat before making the trip up. 15 - 20 minutes later she figured out there was other stuff to do and took a few turns on the obstacle course and after that took a turn shooting foam balls at her classmates.
One classmate Alyce took a liking to is Shruti. We've heard about Shruti in the past from Alyce and seeing Alyce in action with her showed that they were best friends. They rode the slide together time and time again; lots of times they did it sharing the same mat or holding hands on the way down. Shruti was also able to help Alyce get through a very sad moment.
The sad moment came at the end of our time in the bounce rooms just before we head some pizza, cake, and presents. All of the kids sat on or around a set of stairs for a group picture. Alyce was taking swings with a bat on a piece of equipment and was late to being put into position. By the time she got there all of the spots on the steps had been taken and for some reason (lack of food) she wanted a top step. She kept the water works under control until the pictures were finished but you could tell she wasn't happy and on the verge of tears. I tried to calm her down but nothing was really working. So rather than let her day be ruined I sprung into action. I spoke to Shruti's mom and asked if I could use her daughter. I put both her and Alyce on the top step where the pictures had just finished and took a few of just the two of them. This must have been good enough as the tears had stopped and even a smiled shined through. Later on in the room with the pizza and cake Alyce sat next to Shruti with disaster but a memory.
When Mckenna was opening presents we had our first instance of a birthday girl getting a duplicate present. We had bought a copy of the newly released Disney movie Tangled for Mckenna and someone else did too. And they opened that gift right before ours. Mckenna did a good job opening up a duplicate and being very appreciative of Alyce for it. Alyce didn't seemed to notice or if she did she didn't say anything to me about it. I think Alyce was more interested in whether or not Mckenna would like the card Alyce made for her. I'll write about the card in another post, but Alyce made this card a while ago and on repeated occasions asked Mom or I whether Mckenna would like her card. Mckenna did seem to like her card and even read it aloud.
The last item of note about this party was that there weren't any goodie bags. In all of the other parties we attended the host gave out bags of small toys and candy for the kids. Alyce usually forgets about them 24 hours later but them not being there that day was noticed and Alyce was sad that there wasn't any. I can't say I blame the hosts for not having them. Hosting at a place like Bounce U can't be cheap and spending another $50 on stuff that will be thrown away a week later doesn't make economic sense; but kids aren't economists. I don't think the lack of bags was that big of a deal but I thought it was interesting that she brought it up in the first place.
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