Robot Party

When Grace was handed an invitation to Karson's birthday party at church, she thought the "little book" folded paper invitation was a treat. She carried it around all day long and asked to look at it even after we posted it on the refrigerator as a reminder. Personally, I have never liked big groups of screaming, out-of-control kids (especially after dealing with them at school), but I thought this would be a great opportunity for Grace to spend some time with other kids closerto her age.

Well, after the first hurdle of picking out a gift and trying to explain to Grace that it wasn't for her, we were off to the party. But, the blue man (Karson's dad) dressed as a robot and greeting the guests outside on the sidewalk was the first distraction. She had no idea what a robot was and second, the only other person she had ever seen in a costume was dressed as a pizza slice at Walmart. Since this robot had his head covered, she was really confused. She just stood looking out the storm door of the house while I peeled off her coat and shoes.

When the robot finally came inside, Grace followed him and the other 3 robot family members for the first 10 minutes and kept telling everyone, "Robot, robot!" There was a lego building game, and every child got a helmet and breast plate to wear that made them look like robots, too. By the time all of the kids and adults arrived, there were about 15 kids and 20 adults all talking (adults of course) and running around screaming (mostly kids). Grace just sat wide-eyed and overwhelmed at the table while they all sang "Happy Birthday" in robot fashion and ate cupcakes. At one point, Grace climbed into my lap and started sucking her thumb. After two bathroom trips in less than an hour, she wet her pants. It was just too much commotion for her. Even though I had a change of clothes for her in the car, we said our thank-yous and headed home. She didn't fuss about it at all. Maybe a girl's party, where kids weren't pitching toys over the balcony and fighting each other with fake swords, would have been easier for her to handle...