Birthday party faux pas!
True Confession: went to a playground last weekend with a friend and his kids, 5 of them between us, and there happened to be a kids' birthday party going on. It was easy enough to get our kids to steer clear of the food table, though they were tempted, but then the fairy princess came out... So real, even I believed. Our kids quickly ran to the front row to get the best access to the fairy princess. We looked at each other sheepishly, but it seemed harmless enough- enjoying entertainment, and the company of a fairy princess, in what was, after all, a public park. But then, she brought out the magic pebbles. And then, the pink balloons, which she expertly twisted into heart-shaped wands. At this point, it seemed definitely wrong to allow our kids to be part of someone else's party, enjoying someone else's entertainment, and getting someone else's party favors. Stealing. We both looked around to see if we could identify who the birthday girl's parents were, to apologize and ask permission, but we couldn't even clearly identify who the birthday girl was (since we didn't know her!). Very awkward. Then I scanned the crowd carefully to see if I might actually know one of the legitimate guests or their parents. I wasn't sure whether to make eye contact, to masquerade as a guest's parent, or to be avoidant. I chose the latter. The dilemma: remove our children before they made off with ill-begotten loot, or continue the pretense that they were part of the party? The former seems to be the correct answer, but I knew that removing the children would cause a lot of screaming (which could draw a lot of attention and ruin the party). Instead, I am ashamed to admit, we waited until all the kids, ours included, got their balloons, then made our getaways. What would you do?
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Kim Gamble
kmbearden
Spectrum Voice
Susie Lindau
Lauren B. Davis
racheld
Salon.com
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