The party began with nine girls sitting around the kitchen
table, cutting fondant with cookie cutters, painting with colored frosting, and
designing their own personality onto cupcakes as their moms chatted quietly
standing around the edges.
This was the first party my daughter had thrown in
over three years. She invited many of her homeschooled friends that live in this area. Luckily, almost all of them were able to make
it to the party. Some of them knew each
other, but none of them except my daughter knew all of them - although a few she
didn’t know very well.
The girls were all engaged in their work and seemed
content, but would they connect with each other? Would they enjoy each other’s company?
As the party continued, the moms sauntered into the
living room or out into the backyard.
Some moms stayed in the kitchen to help themselves to cupcake designing
while the girls moved on to other projects. (Some moms were quite talented at
it too!) Mostly, the moms tried to stay out of the girls’ way so they could
mingle and connect in their own ways.
Some girls danced to the Xbox Kinect game in the living
room; some chose to sing karaoke in my daughter’s bedroom; and some went to
jump on the trampoline in the backyard. At
first I was worried these groups would become static and the girls would not
move outside of their social comfort zones, but I need not have worried. Soon the girls were moving among the groups
and getting to know each other more.
It was a success!
My sweet girl, who just a little over a year ago felt she had so very
few friends, threw a party and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Her friends all got along with each other,
were kind and engaging, and my daughter felt the joy of being with a group of
friendly girls.
(My daughter suggested the title "No Mean Girls Here" because she wanted to reference the difference between this group of friends and the one she had almost three years ago where they ended up being unkind to her.)
No comments:
Post a Comment