Grandma, We Love You! How to Celebrate Being 70 in Style

Grandma Downs Side up was 70 last week. So how did we celebrate?

"Grandma is pretty. 

Wonderful. Fantastic."

Beautiful fresh flowers sent from FloraQueen

This is how Natty summed up her grandmother when asked for a quote to weave into my brother's speech at the occasion of her 70th birthday.

Her sister chirped,

"I love spending time on my own with Grandma at her house."

For a few weeks we all squirrelled away, wanting to make the occasion as special as possible for our Mum/Aunt/Sister/Wife and it all paid off.  So, what would our tips for the perfect 70th presents be?  

Should I be Proud of my Child for Telling a Lie?

Absolutely light years ago, I sat in a stuffy psychology classroom listening to a passionate, mop-haired tutor wax lyrical about the Theory of Mind. 

The Theory of Mind allows us to lie and pretend

Now, from what I recall, in a nutshell, this meant having the ability to second guess other humans. She said it was what leads us to lie, amongst other things, and that enables us to get what we want from others.  

Theory of mind (often abbreviated ToM) is the ability to attribute mental states — beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc. — to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives that are different from one's own.

Happy Easter /Norooz: East meets West

MARCH! 

Wonderful
         chromosome-thanking
                  ground-shaking
                            meeting of minds   
                                         child-celebrating
                                                    book-launching
                                                               fund-raising
                                                                          door-opening 
                                                                                     media-dancing
                                                                                                Mummy-thanking 

World Down Syndrome Day

Fabulousness that brought thousands of families and support groups closer together. I was so honoured to be a part of that, the collaboration and sharing of stories, advocacy, education and little fundraising. We managed a staggering £1850 this year, all for the Down's Syndrome Association and the invaluable work they do. 

But BOY, how wonderful it was when term ended and offices closed and Tweeting eased and nobody emails to ask for articles. 

Yep, the school Easter holidays have arrived, and our girls are at home with us. 
Bob and I determined to switch off to everything but family and friends over the long weekend. Not even a smidgin of blogging or email-checking, only phone calls to family and friends.

Rebirth. New beginnings. Forgiveness. Spring. 

We actually began on Friday by thanking our chickens for the eggs they give us and have continued do so through the cold harsh icy Winter. Their house and pen and equipment was given a thorough Spring clean, the first dry day with a sprinkling of sun that allowed this opportunity. Fresh straw filled their beds and nesting boxes. A lunch of broad beans and cabbage and crusts and porridge leftovers.

They cooed and came close for feather smoothing as we worked and talked to them, singing. 

Then much crafting and making of Eastery things. My days as a teacher taught me that the process is so much more important than the product. The girls enjoyment of doing far outweighs the look of what they make. There were painted eggs and bunnies with bows and chicks with googly eyes and a funny egg-chick-pig creature and some sewing and some bunting.

Natty spotted the googly eyes on the craft box and immediately launched into song...!

            

Daddy Downs Side Up was in full baking mode, with pies and cakes and a giant hot cross bun, more like an Italian  Easter Colomba cake, all for our delectation.

There was snuggling on the sofa too, watching films such as Swallows and Amazons, Swiss Family Robinson and Hop. 

On Sunday we joined friends for a wonderful shared meal. 

Children played happily and safely, oblivious to each other's differences and adults caught up having not seen each other for months, a kind of large extended family made up of friends and acquaintances. What was wonderful was that we were celebrating a joint Easter and the Persian New Year Norooz. The feast we shared was traditionally Persian in origin, laden with fresh herbs, eggs and other symbols of life and new beginnings.  But there were Easter eggs and chocolate and tulips and daffoldils and a giant fluffy chick in the room as well. 

And why not indeed, for we are all different and have different backgrounds and upbringings. I see our aims as pretty much the same. Happy Easter/ Norooz to you all. H x

The Norooz table

YOU MIGHT LIKE TO READ CHICKENS ARE EGGSELLENT TEACHERS HERE

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Natty's 6th Birthday

Children's birthdays are wonderful yet emotionally complex markers of time for me.
I've decided therefore to do two posts about Natty's 6th birthday, and this is the light-hearted one about parties, presents, jelly, tutus, Pass the Parcel, friends and family....

This time last year when Natty was 5, her Dad was unfortunately working away. I did a simple party at home but it's hard to take pics and cook and organise games and stop kids crayoning on your walls and smile and enjoy all at the same time. It was a lovely day, but passed me by in a slight haze. Read about it here in An Unexceptionally Exceptional Birthday.

This year was very different. We had celebrations over 2 days. A mini tea party with just our immediate family on the day and a party for school friends at the weekend.

Mini celebration on Natty's birthday with simple cake number 1

Not only was Daddy Downs Side Up here, but Natty's big brother and his wife were visiting too. We had an army of help and it meant we could all enjoy the tiny details of the day.

A very happy birthday girl

For the first time I think Natty understood that her birthday was coming. She got excited and chatted about the party both before and after the event. I'm so happy that she clearly loved every minute of it. Pictures speak louder than words, so here they are...

Cheeky Monkey!

The birthday girl donned her favourite tutu and big sister  Mia set up a facepainting station for all the guests, starting with hearts for Natty.

Natty then then painted some of her friends' faces before decorating her big brother and turning him onto a rosy-cheeked elf!

I adore the look of concentration and love here

No party would be complete without a selection of games: Pass the Parcel, Pin the Purse on the Mermaid, (please excuse my feeble art skills!), and every parent's favourite Sleeping Fish (there was a vague swimming theme), as well as colouring in a little thing that shrinks in the oven, doing your own puppet show and decorating your own party bag.

Pin the Purse on the Mermaid, Pass the Parcel and Puppet Show

The children were all beautifully behaved and worked together, instinctively allowing for each others differences; explaining, calming, comforting, dancing, laughing, hugging, cheering up, consoling, asking for help if necessary. Wonderful to see, and exactly how it should be.

When it was time, they sat down for tea. I decided to swap traditional party food, which is always more time consuming and costly than you think to prepare, for a starter of cubes of cheese, pineapple and grapes on sticks, then a bowl of pasta and  blitzed homemade veg and tomato sauce (so easy to knock up in advance) finished with mini trifles in cups (fruit and sponge with jelly, then custard and sprinkles). All so easy and enjoyed by the kids and when their parents picked them up they knew they had eaten a 'proper' dinner too.

But enough waffle about healthy birthday banquets... the main player in this stage of the party was... the much anticipated... CAKE!!!

The cake, the reaction and the fingers in the ears during the very loud singing!

I am no baker. It takes me a whole day to make a birthday cake, but having bought them in the past I have to say I prefer the shabbier looking variety that is infused with the secret ingredient - LOVE. Well, it was a swimming pool affair with splashing Peppa Pig and George amidst a bright blue jelly (What a to-do making that I can tell you! Many a night was spent consulting friends on Twitter to work out how to do it), complete with icing floats and lilos. It wasn't perfect, but it was 'good enough' to please the children. (Phew!)

And there you have it, another unexceptionally exceptional birthday, like many taking place in homes up and down the country every weekend.

Birthday parties are a wonderful time to see the joy of inclusion first hand, to see how our children just accept each other for who they are. It always means so much to me and I see what I was denied as a child growing up in a more segregated society where people with disabilities were hidden away. Read The Significance of the Birthday Party Invite for a light-hearted look at this.