The Party's Over

Saturday we had a party for Blaine's 4th birthday. It was a great day for a party - the weather was hot, but not unbearable, we had the pool set up for the kids outside by the swingset, the grill was manned by David who served up hot dogs and hamburgers and I think everyone had a good time.

Last year we had only been in Tbilisi for a short time and didn't really know that many people, so Blaine's birthday was a real low-key affair, just David and I celebrating with him at the house. This year we had a bunch of friends come over to help us celebrate. The theme for the party was, of course, "Hot Wheels". Blaine is still obsessed with Hot Wheels - as a matter of fact, out of all the really lovely gifts he received at the party, the first ones he wanted opened and he has played with the most were the 3 Hot Wheels cars that David picked up in the Vienna airport on his last trip. Honestly, I don't think anything is as cool as Hot Wheels in Blaine's mind. He has Hot Wheels shoes, sunglasses, underwear, movies, and now, he has had a Hot Wheels birthday party. I ordered all the supplies from an online party supply store, so we had plates, cups, napkins, decorations all with the Hot Wheels logo. Oh, and we had a Hot Wheels pinata. What could be cooler than that?

Blaine didn't quite "get" the concept of the pinata. He knew that it was filled with candy and toys and that everyone would pull the strings* and the stuff would eventually come flooding out. He was very excited about it. But when the right string was pulled and the bounty of goodies poured onto the ground and all the kids dived in to collect the loot, Blaine just reached in, helped himself to one piece of candy and then ate it while watching everyone else make piles of candy and toys to put in their gift bags.

Of course, he is ready for another party and pinata. But, he tells me that he is done with Hot Wheels. This time he wants an airplane party and an airplane pinata. I've told him that he has to wait a whole year for his birthday to come around again. I don't think he quite "gets" that either. I think he would be just fine celebrating his birthday every weekend. I wouldn't be fine with that though. Not because of all the planning and effort required in putting together a party. But because I hate that he is growing up so fast.


*It was a non-violent pinata - no blindfolded kids beating at it with swinging sticks. Just a simple ribbon pull is all it took to open it. You just had to grab the right ribbon.