Party Day!

Today was the big day of Gramps and Nana's 50th anniversary party!  To keep the kids somewhat calm for the morning, I spent a bunch of time reading to them in the living room so they would be out of the way of the adults as they set the party scene up.  Madeleine was particularly taken with the Robert Munsch book, "Love You Forever."  The page in the book that especially captured Madeleine's attention was the illustration of the boy, now a man, cradling and rocking his frail, elderly mother and singing the "Love You Forever" song to her.  Madeleine being Madeleine, she had LOTS of questions about the picture:

MADELEINE: But Mama.  Why does the mother look LITTLE.
ME: Well, because she's very old.  You know how we visited Grammy the other day, she looks kind of frail, and her legs don't work so well anymore.
MADELEINE: But Mama.  Why does VERY OLD make you look LITTLE?
ME: Well, as you get older, your body can shrink. Sometimes your bones aren't as strong, and it makes your body get kind of bent, so you can't stand up as straight and tall as you once did.
MADELEINE: But Mama.  Why does it look like the mother has MUMPS?
ME: Do you know what mumps are??
MADELEINE: Do YOU?
ME: I do.  Do you??
MADELEINE: But Mama.  Why does it look like the mother has PUFFY, PUFFY cheeks?

I guess she does know what mumps mean after all.

Madeleine has been extremely interested in the idea of people being old, in a very hands-on way.  During our visit to see Grammy in her new nursing home, Madeleine wasn't at all shy of her great-grandmother the way Julia had been at that age:

Madeleine again showed her interest in the older people around us as party guests began to arrive this afternoon.  In the midst of a raucus romp around the family room with Great-Aunt Linda, chasing balloons, Madeleine suddenly paused to stroke Aunt Linda's face and ask, "Are you old?  I see you have LINES on your face."

"Old" Aunt Linda.

She was, at least, able to come up with a more socially acceptable comment for another of the party guests, asking a family friend, "Why are you so pretty?" in reference to her lovely, flowing pink skirt.  However, it was pretty hit or miss in terms of Madeleine's sociability at the big event.  Here's how she decided to behave when another relative came over to engage her in talk.

RELATIVE: (pointing to the dolls Madeleine had been playing with at one of the outdoor tables) What are these dolls named?
MADELEINE: Uh...it's a SECRET.
RELATIVE: So, do you go to preschool?
MADELEINE: (laying down across two chairs and lolling her tongue out of the side of her mouth shyly.)
ME: Yes, she goes to preschool!
RELATIVE: What is your teacher's name?
MADELEINE: It's a SECRET.

Good job with the small talk, Madeleine.  It's an art.

Julia, meanwhile, took her responsibilities VERY seriously.  She was in charge of name tags for the various guests, and decided to include details along with merely the name of each person:

Julia's descriptive name tag

Ethan's even more detailed name tag, created by Julia.

As she filled out name tags for former bridesmaids, Julia was treated to a viewing of her grandparents' wedding album, seeing the bridesmaids as they looked back in the day.  This led to Julia asking why Nana had not selected me to be one of the bridesmaids.

Yeah, Nana.  What's your deal?  We're pretty tight and all nowadays; why DIDN'T you choose to include me in your wedding?  Yeah, so I wasn't born yet, and that makes it tough, but couldn't you have found some creative way to work around that??

At any rate, Julia was very invested in her name-tag job.  In fact, she confided her worry to me that she may appear bored or disinterested in the job when she got up to get food or drink.

JULIA: Mama, so, I was doing the name tags, but then I would get up to get a plate of food, and, like, I didn't want people to think that I was, like, BORED of doing the name tags, I was just, like, getting some food and then COMING BACK.

Yeah, I can see why she was concerned.  There were all these other name tag writing wannabes hovering around, waiting to call Julia out on being bored and fire her from her important position, only to take over and become MASTER OF NAMETAGS.

All in all, the girls managed to find ways to be part of the big event, and we were truly honored to be a part of the festivities.  Even if it meant hanging out with a bunch of old people with lines on their faces.

Happy Anniversary, Nana and Gramps!