Weekend Report
Jul. 25th, 2011 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouseThis weekend was Mason's birthday. He turned eight, which I can hardly believe. For some reason, this birthday, Shawn and I were very much reminded of all the things that happened on his very FIRST birthday... which made him seem that much older.
We'd planned a party for the kids through a place in Edina called Adventure Peak. For the people who'd never been, I described it as "a McDonald's Playland without the McDonald's and a LOT bigger." There's also, though, an attached "Great Hall," which is a big gym with places to play basketball, scoot scooters around, and jump in a castle bouncey-house. Mason invited a bunch of kids this time from all his various activities, including some kids from the Montessouri side of his school who are in his advanced readers' group. Also, some of our friends from kuk sool wan. We tried to encourage Mason to pick a number of people from each "non-classmate" group so that no one would show up not knowing anyone besides Mason, and that actually turned out well. The one kid that ended up coming from KSW made friends pretty easily because he'd brought along his DS and there are a number of game-enthusists among Mason's buddies.
I think it was a success for the kids, certainly. Even though we had the party at noon, we didn't end up serving lunch. I let the parents know that they should bring their kids pre-fed, but we did serve lots of cake, fruit and juice. We also brought along a bunch of water bottles that got consumed very readily. In fact, if we do this again, we've determined to bring MORE water, and possibly colored rubber bands or a Sharpie so that kids can mark their water bottles as to whose was whose.
But we were very laisez fair about the whole thing once we were set up. We let kids run off and play right away, gathered them briefly for treats, and then sent them off again with the understanding that they could come back for cake or fruit or juice or water at any time. Shawn staffed the tables to make sure food and drink stayed at the table. We also decided not to do one of those (IMHO) awkward present-opening moments, if only because it seemed a shame to make kids sit still to watch Mason, when slides and bouncey-houses awaited.
Plus, those things can be awkward because some presents delight more than others, and then you have to spend time making sure no feelings get hurt and Mason behaves with decorum.... (which he SHOULD, but it much easier to do in private rather than public, you know?)
Anyway, it was very fun. I think we may even do it again next year.
We came home an Skyped grandma and grandpa Morehouse (which we got to work. I used Shawn's iTouch and Gramma and Gramps called the test center and did a bit of adjusting too.) It was a bit hard to focus the tiny screen on Mason as he moved around, but I think that went pretty well too. Mason still has very little patience for phone conversations, especially when presents were opened and there were LEGOs and whatnot to put together, but I think he did pretty well given all the distractions.
Today... today I'm coming down from all that. I'm feeling a bit old, prickly, and tenacously grumpy. I guess it's Monday for me. I'm looking forward to getting back to KSW tonight. We missed all last week due to the extreme heat, so my muscles are tight and creaky. In fact, last night I had a very strange dream involving KSW that was a play on a reoccuring dream I have about being an understudy who gets called to perfrom, only somehow I never learned the play, etc., etc. In this one, I turned up at KSW to discover I was supposed to be part of a complicated demo...
...also I had another Neil Gaiman dream. Only this time, it involved his house. Except, of course, it wasn't his real house, but the one I imagine in my dreams. I dreamed that Shawn and I were driving by his house, which was situated on a hill, and discovered that the city was cutting down all the trees that had blocked it from view. We were scandalized to discover that it was completely falling apart!
Mr. Gaiman is often a stand-in for "fame" in my dreams, so if I were to play Dr. Freud with myself, I would say that some part of me is afraid that, if the things that shield me in my public life were stripped away, everyone would discover a broken shell underneath.
Not surprisingly, I'm feeling a bit paranoid about my career today. ;-)
We'd planned a party for the kids through a place in Edina called Adventure Peak. For the people who'd never been, I described it as "a McDonald's Playland without the McDonald's and a LOT bigger." There's also, though, an attached "Great Hall," which is a big gym with places to play basketball, scoot scooters around, and jump in a castle bouncey-house. Mason invited a bunch of kids this time from all his various activities, including some kids from the Montessouri side of his school who are in his advanced readers' group. Also, some of our friends from kuk sool wan. We tried to encourage Mason to pick a number of people from each "non-classmate" group so that no one would show up not knowing anyone besides Mason, and that actually turned out well. The one kid that ended up coming from KSW made friends pretty easily because he'd brought along his DS and there are a number of game-enthusists among Mason's buddies.
I think it was a success for the kids, certainly. Even though we had the party at noon, we didn't end up serving lunch. I let the parents know that they should bring their kids pre-fed, but we did serve lots of cake, fruit and juice. We also brought along a bunch of water bottles that got consumed very readily. In fact, if we do this again, we've determined to bring MORE water, and possibly colored rubber bands or a Sharpie so that kids can mark their water bottles as to whose was whose.
But we were very laisez fair about the whole thing once we were set up. We let kids run off and play right away, gathered them briefly for treats, and then sent them off again with the understanding that they could come back for cake or fruit or juice or water at any time. Shawn staffed the tables to make sure food and drink stayed at the table. We also decided not to do one of those (IMHO) awkward present-opening moments, if only because it seemed a shame to make kids sit still to watch Mason, when slides and bouncey-houses awaited.
Plus, those things can be awkward because some presents delight more than others, and then you have to spend time making sure no feelings get hurt and Mason behaves with decorum.... (which he SHOULD, but it much easier to do in private rather than public, you know?)
Anyway, it was very fun. I think we may even do it again next year.
We came home an Skyped grandma and grandpa Morehouse (which we got to work. I used Shawn's iTouch and Gramma and Gramps called the test center and did a bit of adjusting too.) It was a bit hard to focus the tiny screen on Mason as he moved around, but I think that went pretty well too. Mason still has very little patience for phone conversations, especially when presents were opened and there were LEGOs and whatnot to put together, but I think he did pretty well given all the distractions.
Today... today I'm coming down from all that. I'm feeling a bit old, prickly, and tenacously grumpy. I guess it's Monday for me. I'm looking forward to getting back to KSW tonight. We missed all last week due to the extreme heat, so my muscles are tight and creaky. In fact, last night I had a very strange dream involving KSW that was a play on a reoccuring dream I have about being an understudy who gets called to perfrom, only somehow I never learned the play, etc., etc. In this one, I turned up at KSW to discover I was supposed to be part of a complicated demo...
...also I had another Neil Gaiman dream. Only this time, it involved his house. Except, of course, it wasn't his real house, but the one I imagine in my dreams. I dreamed that Shawn and I were driving by his house, which was situated on a hill, and discovered that the city was cutting down all the trees that had blocked it from view. We were scandalized to discover that it was completely falling apart!
Mr. Gaiman is often a stand-in for "fame" in my dreams, so if I were to play Dr. Freud with myself, I would say that some part of me is afraid that, if the things that shield me in my public life were stripped away, everyone would discover a broken shell underneath.
Not surprisingly, I'm feeling a bit paranoid about my career today. ;-)