Wood Sprite turns 8 on Sunday and I am just flabbergasted. Where is the time going? It feels like she should still be four years old! She’s beginning to play Xbox with her dad—we signed them up for a Gamefly trial, and she’s into The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie’s Revenge right now—and she is so tall and physical. I am constantly looking for more outlets for her high level of energy. She wants to play just about every sport in the world, and she could live at the park or pool. I’m continually amazed by her.
This is the first year since her first birthday that we are not having a party. She doesn’t want one. In the past, I had pegged her as an extrovert because she gets along well with so many people and isn’t shy at all, unlike her mom—but this past year she’s showing signs of being an introvert. She doesn’t like large groups and prefers one or two friends at a time. To avoid excluding friends, we’ve made a few special birthday play dates and we’re taking her to the Science Center as a family this weekend to make a build-a-bear and hang out for a little while. Then we are playing games with family that afternoon—a very low-key and relaxed birthday, and frankly, I am relieved.
In the past, we’ve had parties at the park, Chuck E Cheese and the Reading Habit(at). We’ve done home parties, had a reptile expert bring animals to entertain kids, and spent quite a bit of money and time on most of these experiences. It’s nice to be able to not have to hurry up and clean house, blow up a million balloons or work our butts off to pay for something extravagant this year—and even nicer that Wood Sprite doesn’t want something extravagant.
Of course, she has a big surprise on her birthday; her papa and I bought her first real bow for her 4-H archery project. I think she’s going to love it. She also has our usual birthday traditions to look forward to: cake for breakfast (homemade cupcakes this year), whatever she wants to do all day at home with me (Indy has to work), waking up to a sea of balloons in her floor, and my birthday letter.
How does your family do birthdays?
Photo courtesy of Sara S. On Sprite's sixth birthday, we had wildlife expert Serengeti Steve visit and he was just amazing. We have seen him several times and he never disappoints!
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