Goodbye Kitty

Call me an ogre, call me what you will but I couldn’t help but discourage my girl from having a Hello Kitty birthday party. While she has inherited some pajamas and a t-shirt with the infamous kitty face, there are no Hello Kitty toys in our home and she has never seen a show featuring Hello Kitty... her fascination merely comes from admiration of an older neighbor girl who mentioned she had a Hello Kitty birthday. Sigh… what’s a Crafty Mom to do when her child chooses a theme that Mommy doesn’t want to execute? Well, I guess I would like to execute Hello Kitty but not in the way dear almost-four Sara was thinking…  

Why the Hello Kitty hate? Part of it is that I just don’t get it. Even back in the ‘80s when my little buddies showed off their collections of Hello Kitty eraser tops and mini pens, I wasn’t sure what the big deal was. And more than not “getting it” (I imagine there will be MANY things I won’t relate to in my children’s interests over the years) I suppose the commercialism is what I find so unappealing. I won’t veto a shirt or pjs but a whole party? Really?!

When I mentioned this “birthday dilemma” to my dear Swedish friend (an incredibly kind, intelligent, active, multi-lingual working mom with angelic children, by the way) her suggestion nearly knocked me off my feet. “How about not asking what kind of party they want? When my girls have a birthday, I make a cake; we sing a song and have friends over.” Drat! I should have thought about that a couple years ago, before Sara’s zoo party or William’s superhero party which I got so into, you’d think I was the one turning 5! Yes, I’m afraid I’ve done this to myself, creating the perfect storm for high expectations on birthdays… but hey, it’s what I like to do so as long as it’s not Hello Kitty, I’m on board!

My sneaky phase one of the Hello Kitty eradication began with talking about how much fun she had up at the Veterinarian Clinic at the Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett. “Remember how you got to care for all types of animals in the Vet Clinic? Instead of just focusing on Kitties, wouldn’t it be fun to have a party featuring a mix of animals?” I asked innocently? Sara pondered this thoughtfully. “How about forest animals? Then we can make a big chocolate cake with trees and animals on it” I continued. My last suggestion finally sealed the deal:  “We could make it even more fun if we did forest animals AND forest fairies, how about that?” SOLD! Even though it was a huge mouthful that Sara could hardly remember when inviting friends to her party, my girl was totally on board for her Forest Animal and Forest Fairy 4^th Birthday Party!    Party Details complete with animal masks and fairy wings coming soon…