Burton was invited to a birthday party at the weekend so I took him and Jenson to a village hall in the pretty Devon village of Georgeham. We arrived a little late and as we entered the entrance to the hall the noise that greeted us was deafening! I am not joking it was like walking into the twilight zone. We left the sunny, bird tweeting in the trees picturesque scenery of a little Devon village outside, and suddenly we were transported into a land of screaming, balloon bursting, face paint wearing little monsters!!
Once I got over the shock that this was a children’s birthday party and not a scene from a zombie movie, and realised that the loud banging near me was balloons being stepped on, and not a gun, the three of us took our seats to watch the entertainment in the form of a juggler.
Burton wasn’t interested in watching the acrobatics being performed, preferring instead to play with some surviving balloons and the slide and trampoline that was at the back of the hall. Bless him, I thought as I watched him innocently amuse himself and call and wave to me every now and then. I was quite glad he was out of the way of the more vivacious guests I have to be honest.
After the juggler had played with his balls *ahem* and spinned his plates all hell broke loose again, and suddenly a mass of children surrounded my little man. The party was actually a joint one for a three and four year old and the guests ages ranged from 18 months up to about 10 years – the majority being around 3-5 years old I guess. It amazed me what a difference a year makes as I watched Burton play compared to the older children. They seemed so rough and almost aggressive in their in comparison to my boy.
At times he just stood back and watched them running riot around him. One boy, who I would say was a year or two older than him, kept pushing my son out of the way and while Burton took it in his stride, I felt a wave of motherly protection sweep over me.
How dare that boy be rough with my child!!
I just wanted to tell the older boy off, but of course with his parents probably being close by, I didn’t.
It just made me realise, I guess, what I have to come in the future with my two boys – all that boisterous behaviour and rough and tumble playfulness. I mean it’s all new to me. I was a girl and I didn’t intentionally do rough or messy play. I was bossy and liked to tell other children what to do, apparently, but boyish mannerisms are alien to me really. I just could not believe how different a two year old (like my son) acts compared to a three year old – they are so much more aggressive and ….well scary really!
I can honestly say that this birthday party was, at times, complete carnage and a real eye opener.
Do you know what? I think I preferred it when my eyes were shut because now I have been given an insight into what is to come with my two boys!
*quietly screams inside*
Thank you xx
I do not like kids party’s which is unfortunate as a mom of three. Older boys can be rough but if I saw Louie repeatedly pushing I would step in and intervene.
I’m in the middle of planning Milo’s third birthday. I’m also a fan of smaller numbers and will be inviting only 8 children. This way the party doesn’t get too crazy or overwhelming for the children.
Btw if I had a penny for every time I’d heard the juggler/balls joke, I’d be loaded 😉
I Think small parties are better – there must have been about 25 children at this party! I apologise for the baaaaad juggler joke 😉
Thank you for popping over x
I’ve already decided I’m not going down the big party route as it’s my idea of hell. Dreading the day Zara gets invited to one!
Oh my goodness. This sounds like my idea of hell. I find it really hard to watch children misbehaving (I don’t think you can ever totally turn the teacher bit off) and not say anything.
It hadn’t really crossed my mind until I read this, that my darling, little angel boy will grow up to be one of those boisterous little sugar-fuelled maniac children. And as for other children shoving my little treasure….. well done you for biting your tongue.
That’s it. I’m home schooling him. I will be his only friend and I will look after him and care for him and not let him get roughed up.Â
aaaaaggghhhh your worst nightmare!!!Â
Just so you know, they are not all like that. Sam was never one of those boisterous boys that ran around with a gun or sword screaming so you may get away with it…..but I’m afraid you have around another 6-8 years of these parties, sometimes if you’re lucky you get 2 in one weekend, or even 2 in one day! I used to send my husband to most, especially the ones at soft play – a newspaper & a coffee & he’s happy for a couple of hours! We’ve had a few years off but now have to endure it all again with Jack!Â
x
I do not believe for one second that every child behaves like that, I don’t think The Boy will and I don’t think Burton will either. We went to a party last week where every other child was running around the house, he just stayed with me because he didn’t like the noise!
I hope you are Right, but I think when kids get together in groups (albeit when they are a little bit older) they can go a little crazy!! Oh well I guess it burns off excess energy!! thanks for commenting x
Sending hubby is a Great idea *will bear that in mind* xx
Ha ha i like the home schooling xomment 🙂 it hadn’t crossed mine either until this party how one day my little soldiers coud be like that!! Thanks for your comment xx
Wee Z used to sit back and watch quietly but since starting nursery he has definitely become one of the boys. I mean he doesn’t go about pushing or hitting people (unless they hit him first!) but he does like to run around, pretending to be a superhero, jumping over things and generally being a boy. Thankfully I have Miss C to keep the girl in me alive!
I still maintain that they won’t do this to us!
It doesn’t have to be that way. Henry isn’t like that (he has his moments, but usually not). Depends on the child I think.
I find this when i take the children to various groups i find that some older children are like this and others are not. Ethan has a tendancy to be bit rough but if i see him being rough i stop him and tell him not to and he is learning. I dont think for one minute that Burton will be like this.
Sounds horrendous! I’m sure your boys will always be very well behaved and polite young men 🙂 maybe the moral of the story is to have small party gatherings, no more than 5 children or something?!  your comment about quietly screaming inside did make me laugh though hee hee xx
Sounds pretty frightening. But I’d take that over fairies and teapots any day lol. PS I popped over from TheBoyAndMe’s show off showcase xx