When Quinlan decided she wanted a Harry Potter party a couple of weeks ago, I was equally tickled and freaked out, mostly because I'd never actually thrown any of my kids an official party, let alone one involving dragons, magic, and wizards for a bunch of 4 and 6 year old girls.
I thought about making it a Harry Potter tea party but my inner feminist smacked some sense into me.
And so, I found myself making bloodworm and blind cat eye centerpieces out of spaghetti and pearl onion, and filling my craft store cart with toy dragons, snakes, spiders, and bull frogs.
Definitely not your typical girl's birthday party decor. Because if you hit the "girl's" section at any party store, you might think the pretty pink princess monster took a gigantic shit in the aisle.
Maybe my daughter knew that I had paid my dues over the years, with three years in a row of Ariel birthday cakes, Barbie halloween costumes, and a collection of "play" make-up that somehow always ends up on walls and clothes.
And really, if she wanted some sort of Barbie Luau Party, I would have obliged her - leis, hula skirts, limbo and all, though with much less gusto and plenty of inner eye-rolling.
My main concern wasn't so much that my kid was wearing a striped tie, white shirt, black shorts, and a cloak at her birthday party, but that the party goers, all girls, would somehow be off put by the lack of, well, girliness.
But I threw on my old grad school robes and a terrible British accent, waved around a wand of my own, and wouldn't you know, they all had a smashing good time. No moans, groans, or screeches even. On the contrary, they dug it, all of them bound and determined to find the gigantic plastic snakes, spider, and bullfrog that I had hidden in the yard.
And really who can blame them? As much as tiaras, princess dresses, and sparkly make-up can make for plenty of fun, so can a few two-headed dragons and a plastic tarantula.
Somehow we've come to believe that girls are genetically programmed to like all that glitters, when really, that's absolutely not the case. They can have a diamond on one and a frog in the other, and still turn out just fine.
In fact, they'll be better for it.
My daughter loves "boys" toys. She demands to watch ROBOTS on tv and would rather build blocks or kick balls than most other things. That said she loves pink, wants to prepare and eat (play)food with me, and gets a kick out of glitter.
Sometimes it's easier with girls because they're "allowed" to like boy stuff. Oh, and the boy McDonald's toy is almost ALWAYS better!
Posted by: Amber @ NotMommy | August 11, 2011 at 03:21 PM
Yes!
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Posted by: Robyn | July 20, 2011 at 12:54 PM
Is the pretty pink princess monster's shit all glittery? Just wondering.
For my girl's 7th birthday all she wanted to do was go rock climbing.
Yay girls!
Posted by: Karen (SubMommy) | July 14, 2011 at 01:57 AM
When the McDonald's girl toy is lame (and it often is), my daughter asks for the boy toy.
Posted by: xMamaBunnyx | July 13, 2011 at 08:31 PM
This is exactly what my daughter wants for her 6th birthday!! She is a puzzle/lego/harry potter kind of kid. She plays with dolls and My Little Pony as well, but I love that she doesn't really care about much of the pink/girlie type stuff!
The party sounds great!
Posted by: Monica | July 13, 2011 at 04:31 PM
My 3 year old daughter loves her Barbies and her My Little Ponies. But more than those, she loves her big brother, who loves his rugby and lacrosse and Transformers. Therefore she loves rugby and lacrosse and Transformers. Not to mention that she tells me, every time we go to the beach, that she wants to go surfing with me when she's old enough. She kicks ass.
Posted by: Jason | July 13, 2011 at 02:38 PM
Totally perfect!
(My home is an explosion of sparkle and sludge, princesses and pirates, and every mish-mash of gender stereotyping around for both sexes, but I only have boys. My youngest son in particular has a very pink bedroom with flowers, fairies, and fangs.)
Posted by: Karianna | July 13, 2011 at 02:03 PM
That sounds like an awesome party.
Posted by: Olivia | July 13, 2011 at 09:58 AM
Quinlan is adorable!
Posted by: Heather | July 13, 2011 at 09:16 AM
That sounds like such a fun party!!!
Posted by: RhodeyGirl | July 13, 2011 at 08:35 AM
Yes, but how did the cake turn out? (..asks the girl in the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team Captain shirt.)
Posted by: DelilahSDawson | July 13, 2011 at 08:24 AM
My younger daughter (who turned 7 at the end of April) is the same. Her favourite Disney character is Tinkerbell, and for a while she seemed to think she actually WAS Tinkerbell. Now, whilst she still likes Tink (and Sleeping Beauty), she's a HUGE Zorro fan (the old TV series Zorro with Guy Williams, none of that Banderas shit), and is just as happy with pirate Lego sets as she is with Pet Shops...
My two girls are plenty "girly" and we have enough glitter and pink plastic in the house to fill a landfill, but they both like things "outside" the Land of Pink too!
Posted by: Kirsty | July 13, 2011 at 08:19 AM