Simple Trick: Birthdays in School

Noah recently celebrated his birthday in school. After doing this for a couple of years now, I feel I've become an expert - learning what NOT to do one year and correcting it the next.

Before I share the tips & tricks I've collected over the years, let me start with a disclaimer. These tips will work only if our celebration objectives are aligned. I choose to celebrate my kids birthdays in school (during recess or lunch) because I don't believe in yearly, grand (I'm sure you know how wedding-reception-grand children's parties are these days) birthday parties. I prefer a few grand ones (Yes, I'm one of those parents that threw 1st birthday parties for their babies who had no clue what was going on. And yes, we celebrated Isabella and Noah's 7th birthdays in a big way too - without knowing why on earth, 7th birthdays are supposedly special.) and the rest of the years, just simple celebrations that will make the birthday celebrant feel special in a gathering among friends (vs. mommy & daddy's friends at those grand parties). So my goal for these school birthday parties is a simple celebration, planned for & executed in the easiest way possible.

Assuming you feel the same way, here are my school birthday celebration simple tips & tricks:

1. Choose your theme. I let my kids choose the theme of their simple celebration so we always end up with character themes, against my liking. So even if I would have prefered non-character themes like those blue ballerinas or Noah's Ark animals for Noah, I ended up with blech-Barney and Ben10 themes in previous years. But hey, it's their birthday, not mine. Because school birthdays are so short (no time to decorate), there are only 2 things that make your theme a theme: the birthday cake and the loot. So order a cake and buy loot according to your theme. And take photos of the cake & loot so you have proof of a theme (and do it before d-day because it's easy to forget to take photos before you slice the cake and before you distribute the loot).

2. Decide on your cake plan. The cake is critical for the candle-blowing photo op. This year, because Noah's birthday fell on a Saturday (a non-school day), I ended up ordering 2 cakes: one for his actual birthday for his birthday dinner with the family and another for his school birthday celebration. If you decide to do the same & serve the cake to your child's classmates...

• On d-day, along with the cake, don't forget to bring the birthday candle/s and lighter or box of matches.

• Conduct the candle-blowing photo op before the kids eat their food. This will give you time to slice the cake while they are eating their, say, chicken & spaghetti.
• ... which means, you need to bring a cake slicer to school (bring a serated knife too just in case your cake slicer needs help cutting through fondant cake icing).
• Don't forget to bring disposable forks so the kids can eat their cake.
• Instead of disposable plates, use disposable lunchboxes - the ones with lids that fold close. So if the kids can't finish their cake, they can bring home their leftovers.

But in 2 years, when Noah's birthday falls on a school day, my plan is to order 1 cake and several cake pops or cupcakes. Noah's classmates can eat the cake pops... And I will get to bring home the big cake for the candle-blowing photo op during dinner with the family. Plus, no need for the cake-slicing task anymore!

3. Decide on your loot bag plan. You can opt to buy themed toys and candies and stuff them in a bag (or your preferred container). Personally, I think stuffing bags & choosing candies & token toys just adds to the pre-work of this supposed easy-to-execute celebration. So I suggest to do away with candies - they might just lead to cavities and don't they get enough candy on Halloween?

I also suggest to pool your loot bag budget and pick one big (still within budget since kids are quite easy to please) toy rather than several really cheapo toys that end up breaking the next day or just turning into clutter later. Choose a fun toy so that you're sure everyone will like them.

For co-ed schools, either ensure the toy is gender-neutral or make sure you know how many boys & girls there are in your child's class before shopping for the toys so you get the right number of girl-toys vs. toys for boys.

4. Order food. (Easy-to-execute celebrations means no cooking required. Okay okay, I have no choice here. I can't cook. Remember from here?). 

• Visit (rather than merely call) the resto a few days before the celebration to place your order. Place your order and get a copy of the contract/order form. You can opt to have the food delivered to your child's school but you'll need to meet the delivery guy there. My brother did this and there were no problems. I'm paranoid so I opt for a pick-up arrangement. I prefer that the kitchen is right there, in case they get your order wrong or forget things like the spoons (which tends to happen with no-rice orders. They just give forks.). I even make sure to schedule pick-up 20 minutes earlier, in case they need the 20 minutes to fix something. (Haha, OC!) Make sure to check that the contract/order form has the correct date & time.
• You can never go wrong with chicken & spaghetti. Every kid eats at least one of these two fastfood staples.
• But do NOT get a chicken & spaghetti meal that comes with a drink. Transporting multiple drink-filled plastic cups is extremely difficult! Remember, those cardboard handles are only good for 4 cups. They don't make those for 15, 20 or 40 cups. Trying to carry this many cups to your child's classroom will inevitably result in some lids tearing and drinks spilling a little. Imagine the sticky mess! And even if the drinks don't spill, the plastic cups get those beads of condensation from the cold drink in it and lugging multiple wet cups will still be... ugh. So opt to order the food a la carte (vs. a meal) and serve tetra packs from the grocery for drinks. Their even, rectangular & stackable shape make even 50 tetra packs easy to lug around. Plus, they already come with a straw stuck to them so that's one less thing to distribute to each classmate on d-day.

• Put the tetra packs in the fridge the night before d-day. A cooler is also an option.
• On d-day, carry the tetra packs in a cooler (a styrofoam one with a shoulder strap will be ideal since it's light and you will be carrying a lot of things that day and will need your hands for other things).
• For the cooling agent in your cooler, use those plastic cooling things or seal the ice in ziplock bags so the tetra packs don't get wet when the ice melts. Or bring a rag to wipe the floor if your dripping wet tetra packs make a puddle in the classroom.  
• The chicken & spaghetti combo is not available a la carte. You can opt to order buckets of chicken and a la carte spaghetti. Then nicely request if they can pack it in the chicken & spaghetti meal box. McDonald's Tiendesitas agreed to do this for me this year. :) Make sure they note down this special packing instruction on your contract/order form.
• One of Noah's classmates recently did away with the common chicken & spaghetti fare and went for a gigantic pizza. It seems it was a big hit with the kids so this is an option for me next year. Am thinking it will also lessen the things I need to distribute since the kids will likely want to get up and get their own slice from the giant pizza.

5. Think of your staffing plan. Visualize how many things will need to be lugged to the classroom from your car. This will help you decide how many helpers you need. Remember too that you can't bring a battalion of helpers because you not only need space in your car for all the stuff you need to bring, but classrooms aren't big enough to fit too many additional people.

To help, here is a list of things to bring:

• Cooler containing tetra pack drinks (with straws) and cooling agent (ice in ziploc bag)
• the themed cake (& cake pops/cupcakes if you choose this cake plan)
• Cake slicer (& serrated knife)
• Birthday candle/s
• Lighter or box of matches
• Cake boxes (the disposable lunchboxes with lids that fold close)
• Disposable forks to eat the cake with
• Table napkins to accompany the cake
• Large ecobags to carry your food order
• Loot (in lootbag or not)
• Garbage bags so cleaning up is easy
• your camera (make sure battery is fully-charged & memory card has enough space)

There are basically 3 main tasks during the actual celebration: [1] distribute -- first, the food, utensils, napkins & drink; second, the cake, forks & napkins; and third, the loot (but this one, your celebrant can do). [2] slice the cake. [3] take photos of the celebration.

The decision on how many people you need to do the distribute task will depend on the class size and if it is an option for kids to just line up to pick up their meal from you.

And there you have it: all the tips & tricks I've collected from 5 years of school birthdays. Hope this helps make planning & executing your little one's birthday in school simple & easy!

Photos are from annniegirl, polkadotshoppingbag & lushlee. 

Click here for previous posts from the Simple Trick series.

Color Obsession: Tiffany blue

I know, I know. Emerald green is the pantone color of 2013. But I am still obsessed with the signature robin's-egg-blue that goes with a completely different gem from the emerald - the solitaire diamond. Even without the diamond, I am still smitten with Tiffany & Co's blue hue. Perhaps it is true that it is the color of dreams.

The color seems to promise something beautiful, making even a rotting, old door dreamy...

Am not sure I'd want to actually eat these macarons (what flavor could they be?!), but boy, are they pretty to look at!

I might taste a bit of this cake...

I'd even be tempted to buy this recipe box... which says a lot 'coz I don't even know how to cook!

Am allergic to nail polish here and even if I weren't, I'm not even sure I'd like Tifffany blue nails, but I can't stop looking at this Tiffany blue tiny bottle.

Even this bag lured me when it came out a couple of months ago... Even though I already have several blue bags and have sworn off buying bags here... Even though I know thebaghagdiaries is right that it is too delicate (prone to scratches & stains)... But it is just so darn pretty...

It's funny how my head sees the practical reasons I should say no to all the Tiffany blue finds above, and yet my heart is still entranced. I guess it's because there's something magical about the color... The promise of something wonderful from the iconic tiny, little T&Co blue box...

After all, T&Co has been doing this for over 175 years.

And while it could just be a dream or a fantasy...

... this Tiffany blue color certainly evokes real feelings of wonder & delight.

Photos from polkadotshoppingbag, americanhoney & thebaghagdiaries.

Click here for previous posts from the Color Obsession series. 

some polka dots i spotted...

In my family, we try to wear polka dots every New Year's eve. They say it's for luck. Oddly, it isn't a lucky new year that we're wishing for, but a happy one.

And it turns out, for us to have a happy new year, all we need to do is be thankful.

My new year's resolution is to be thankful for at least one good thing in my life every day.

After all, even though every day may not be good, there's always something good in every day.

What about you? What is your new year's resolution?

Photo from americanhoney, annnniegirl and heritage.

Click here for previous posts from the Some Polka Dots I Spotted... series.

blissful bungled carols

Isabella and I have been singing Christmas carols in the car for weeks now. And I discovered that we don't know the right lyrics to many, if not all, carols!

Sa-ilent night, Ho-oly night. All is calm, all is bright... Okay, what's next? Is it down or round? Okay, round... Round young Virgin... Turns out, it's "yon", not "young". And there are 2 more stanzas after that that I don't think I've ever heard.

It's the same for Deck the Halls. Deck the halls with boughs of holly. Fa la la la la la la la la. Tis the season to be jolly. Fa la la la la la la la la. On with our way gay apparel. Turns out it's "Don we now our gay apparel". Fa la la la la la la la la. Oh, the ancient yuletide carol. Fa la la la la la la la la. But it's "Toll the ancient yuletide carol" after all. And there are 3 more verses I, again, have never heard!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. With every Christmas blah I blah. May your days be merry and briiight. And may all your Christmases be light? bright? white?

Isabella and I sang so many carols at the top of our lungs... even though we said "blah" a lot of times through them all. We did figure out the 12 Days of Christmas, but not after switching days 7 to 11 around so many times.

We even bungled Jingle Bells! And I've been singing that since I was a kid! Okay, we got the chorus right: Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells. Jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. We didn't do so well with the first verse though: Dashing through the snow. In a one-horse open sleigh. Oh? All? O'er the fields we go, laughing all the way. And then we just ruined the song...  Bella botcha ring, making spirits bright. What fun it is to ride and sing the sleighing song tonight!

Yes, we don't know the correct lyrics to common Christmas carols. But I think what matters is that we sang at the top of our voices, laughing hysterically every time we substituted a word with "blah" and felt the Christmas spirit all the way home. Maybe it can even be a way for us to be identified as family - singing the same wrong lyrics of Christmas carols (just like the father & son's Amazing Grace in the movie Maverick). :)

Hope you are having a holly, jolly Christmas - whether your lyrics are right or not!

All together now! Bella botcha ring, making spirits bright. What fun it is to ride and sing the sleighing song tonight!

Photos from annnniegirl.

Click here for a previous post on a Christmas song Noah botched up too. Hehe, runs in the family.

Mommy Mondays: teaching them to love books

Both my kids love to read today. And I truly believe this love for books was borne out of our nightly bedtime stories. Since they were babies, until they were about 6, I made it a point to read them a bedtime story (at least 2-3 times a week). We started with board books, then picture books, then those staged-reading books with big letters & some words substituted with pictures for the child to "read".

Today, I am so pleased that 7-year-old Noah borrows 2 books from the library every couple of days. He reads Geronimo Stilton (for girls, you can go for Thea Stilton books), Diary of A Wimpy Kid and 39 Clues books. Naturally, his favorite is the Wimpy Kid series, but I worry he'll bring some of the pranks to life. :( I am thrilled though that he's already reading 39 Clues because 15-year-old Isabella was reading those books just last year!

Isabella, on the other hand, reads and re-reads these books: the Twilight series, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Legend of Aang, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series & the Heroes of Olympus series.

I just love that Isabella is such a wide reader! I have to say I am impressed that she reads novels with substance. I remember reading a lot of (eep!) Sweet Dreams when I was her age!

Some books both Isabella and I enjoyed as children that I am looking forward to Noah reading someday are: books by Roald Dahl, books by Judy Blume, Encyclopedia Brown, Cam Jansen & Nancy Drew (though my mom and I enjoyed them more than Isabella did and I suppose Noah will choose Hardy Boys if he does get into such a series).

I have to admit that both Isabella and Noah watch a lot of TV and play a lot of video games. But I am so thankful that they also have a desire to sit back and read a good, old novel.

I'm not 100% certain their love for books is solely due to our nightly bedtime stories when they were younger. But it doesn't hurt to start them young, right? Plus, books help teach other things too. Like reading a book about going to the dentist (ours was a Dora the Explorer book) helped take away the fear of Noah's first visit to the dentist. I also remember reading a Muppets Bye, Bye Diapers boardbook to Isabella when we were potty-training her. Among the books I read to them, my faves would have to be Guess How Much I Love You, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Veggie Tales' God Made You Special. I adore that last one because it was short (reading aloud is hard on your voice), it rhymes (I looove rhyming books because it's fun to read in a singsong tone! Dr. Seuss books are just so so long.), and I got to use a fake French accent on one page ('Allo boys and girls! We are zee French peas!) which always made both Isabella & Noah laugh out loud. Awww, such fun memories of enjoying a book together! 

Have fun reading with your kids!

Photos from nyctaughtme & pinkwallpaper.

Click here for previous posts from the Mommy Mondays series. Click here for a previous post about the lack of classic children's books these days. Click here for my own version of "I love you to the moon and back".

Mommy Mondays: my perfectionist child

Since am focusing on motherhood now, I decided to start a new series: Mommy Mondays. I envision talking about anything and everything related to motherhood.

First up, let me talk about my perfectionist child. For the longest time, Noah went through reams and reams of paper within a few months because he would start to draw and when it wasn't perfect, he would discard the sheet of paper and reach for a new one. Using an eraser was unthinkable for him. His standards were very high too. He would get frustrated (even angry) when he couldn't draw what he wanted, the way he wanted. I remember several instances when he wanted to draw people like say, Ben 10, and he would get really upset when his drawing didn't look like a real person with 3D depth - even though, in my opinion, it did look exactly like Ben 10 and my 5-year-old drew it way better than grown-up-me ever could. At school, he wasn't satisfied with stamps of Top Effort on his worksheets. He needed to get a stamp that read Perfect.

I realized that the earliest sign of this perfectionist tendency was when he was 2, maybe 3, years old and he & his cousin were working on their Copy & Color coloring books. He got so upset when his cousin colored Oscar the Grouch orange. For him, the only correct color was green. And now that I got to thinking of early signs, I wonder if his old obsession of buttoning his sportshirts all the way up to his neck was a sign? Could it be that to him, all buttons needed to be buttoned?

Late last year, when the signs were much more obvious, I started being more conscious of my language around him. I took out the word "perfect" from my vocabulary and replaced it with "excellent". Every now and then, I told him it was okay to make mistakes and I would even make mistakes on purpose then laugh at myself. I also hid my neurotic tendencies.

And he has come a long way since then. Now, 7-year-old Noah gladly uses an eraser and is comfortable using the back of his sheet of paper. He now knows how to laugh at his mistakes and no longer gets upset with less-than-perfect test scores. He is now comfortable using non-transparent tape as you can see with all the black electric tape in his super-paper-power crafts here. His attention-to-detail is still apparent. Just now, we were viewing a home video on my laptop and he pointed out that it was "tabingi" [lopsided]. He was right, but it was very, very slightly lopsided - hardly noticeable! He also got a bit upset when I gave him one of my airplane-freebie eyemasks because his assignment notebook read "Bring a handkerchief (to be used as blindfold)". He insisted he bring a handkerchief because that's what it said in his notebook. 

Yes, more motherly molding is still required from me. But I am proud of how far he's come. After all, perfection is overrated. Excellence is awesome enough.

Photo from heritage.    

Color Obsession: tough pink

Of all the pastel hues, pink is usually at the bottom of my list. I'm not much of a fan of this soft, dainty color because I find it too saccharinely sweet for my personality. But lately, I've been drawn to sheer pinks. Or even really, really light pinks. 

I am drawn to baby pink dresses these days. The translucent pink drinks look so refreshing to me. And if I weren't allergic to nailpolish (see related post here), I'd be going for such sheer nails.

But I'd toughen up this soft, feminine hue somewhere else in my ensemble. Combining it with gold or silver hardware helps, I think.

But my favorite way to toughen up pink is by pairing it with olive green.

Let me leave you with my latest sheer pink discovery. I love it because it looks so purrretty in my bathroom.

And the best part is it's quite a tough pink because Neutrogena's Deep Clean technology effectively removes 99% of dirt, oil, impurities and dead skin cells. And with anti-oxidant pink grapefruit extracts, it helps stimulate healthy cell renewal. So it's not just purrretty for your bathroom, but also makes your skin purrretty and younger-looking too!

Photos from i'mjustsaying, pinkwallpaper, polkadotshoppingbag, polyvore and here. Polyvore picks are as follows: Reiss Kelly sequin top, Polo Ralph Lauren mill olive chinos, Alexander McQueen Skull leather belt, Mango two-tone pleated dress, Rigby dress, Barbour Gold Label devon quilt jacket, Diane Von Furstenberg Elena sunglasses.

Click here for previous posts from the Color Obsession series.  

some polka dots i spotted...

Trent Walton on Blogs:

"There's something sacred about reading a blog post on someone else's site. It's like visiting a friend's house for a quick meal 'round the breakfast table. It's personal - you're in their space, and the environment is uniquely suited for idea exchange and uninterrupted conversation. In many ways, we should be treating our blogs like our breakfast tables. Be welcoming & gracious when you host, and kind & respectful when visiting."

It's been a whole year since I started this blog. It has been a truly wonderful year! Thanks for letting me share my love for polka dots and other delightful things.

Thanks for sharing these great breakfasts with me!

Photos from blondiensc. Quote from here via acupofjo.

Click here for previous posts from the Some Polka Dots I Spotted series.

where do you like to be held?

For those of you in a relationship, is there a specific way your partner holds you that never fails to make you feel warm & tingly all over? Like you're a teenage girl getting kissed ever-so-gently for the very first time by your highschool crush?

I find a light touch on my knee quite comforting.

A gentle stroking of my fingers quite sweet.

And a tender touch on my side quite endearing.

A firm grasp of my back makes me feel lovingly safe & protected.

And hands clutching my face in a kiss, so romantic.

And finally, noses touching, so real, honest & playful. A warm-and-tingly meant to last forever.

What about you? Where do you like to be held? Is there a special way he holds you that makes you feel even more loved and in love?

Photos from pinkwallpaper and annnniegirl.  

Whimsical Wednesday!

Winnie the Pooh said "Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon".

And it's true! Balloons are just whimsical, colorful and happy.

Maybe because balloons remind us of our childhood.

And birthday parties.

Or theme park memories.

Or maybe because balloons inspire us to dream - to fly.

After all, a movie made us think it is possible.

And someone tried to prove it is.

Indeed, "Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon."

So as you drive to work today, imagine you have a bunch of balloons flying with the wind.

And have a whimsical Wednesday!

Photos from annnniegirl, polkadotshoppingbag, frommetoyou, here, here, here, here and here.

Click here for previous posts from the Whimsical Wednesday series. Click here and here for down-in-the-dots versions of this balloons post.