E. turned officially ten years old last weekend. He was very excited about this birthday, now officially being in the double-digits and verging on 'tween-hood. Since this was an even-numbered birthday he got to celebrate with a friend birthday party two days before his official day. E. got to invite 8 friends and he chose a nice mix of boys from school and the neighborhood. He chose to celebrate by playing some improv games. The game plan was to play a couple of warm-up improv games, led by Improv Master Justin, and then divide the kids into two groups who would come up with some kind of skit based on random items they were given in a brown paper sack. We would give them time to practice their skit and then they would get to perform it for everyone else and we would videotape it. Then we would watch them on tv so the performers could see how their "play" turned out. After the playing around, the kids would get to make their own little English muffin pizzas and decorate their own cupcakes for treats.
Well, it sort of worked out like that. Only three of the 8 children invited called to RSVP (doesn't anyone do this any more? It's so aggravating not to know), and the party composition turned out rather different than we had expected. Five of the boys ending up coming. One boy is a next-door neighbor, and his little sister, who is also a friend of B., came too. Then O.'s best friend came over during the party and he ended up staying too. This was all fine by E. and company, and there was plenty of food. The brother and sister's mom came by to check on things and she ended up staying, which was so helpful because she helped me corral things in the kitchen and keep excited children in check. Justin led the kids in several different improv games like Party Quirks (which B. called "Party Quarts"). I taped the kids doing several of them, and it was a riot. Justin handled the kids so well and they were having a blast! My friend Tess was great to help with the food part of it, and because the kids were having so much fun playing improv games we never quite got to the skits part. That was okay, though. We rotated kids into the kitchen to make their pizzas, and once everyone had food we sang Happy Birthday and E. got to open his presents. He was thrilled with all of them. Anything to do with Lego, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones, or electronics is an ace in the hole.
On Sunday my parents came down for dinner and they gave him a recorder. He promptly sat himself down at the end of the evening and figured out Hot Cross Buns. He has since added Mary Had a Little Lamb to his repertoire and he's trying to figure out the hobbit theme from Lord of the Rings. He was also introduced to the comic strip Foxtrot, and he hasn't put it down since. It's so fun to introduce my kids to things that I enjoy and find they enjoy it too: Foxtrot, Monty Python, Andy Andrews, Broadway musicals, and classic movies are some of them ("The Great Race" anyone?).
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