One of my favorite movie lines is in the Adams Family when a Girl Scout meets Wednesday with Girl Scout cookies and Wednesday asks “Are they made with real Girl Scouts?” Similarly, I have been to a fair number of princess birthday parties. It is quite possible that Lizzie alone has had 2 or 3. But now I can say that I have been to a princess birthday party with a real princess. Contrary to what the birthday party industrial complex, which has tiaras, wands and pink gift bags to sell, wants you to believe, princesses go bowling for their birthdays. The princesses eat bowling ball shaped cookies and their boy guests run around wildly having battles with pool cues while Philippine nannies stand in the distance murmuring “habibi” (“sweetheart”).I discovered the princess bowling tie because last night Dan and I went to the nearly as surreal “bowling with diplomats” evening. Just like my sorority would invite a fraternity over for a “mixer.” Last night, the US embassy invited the other embassies to go bowling at a local hotel. Only we couldn’t bowl because the princess’s party was running very, very late and there was no way the hotel was going to shoo them away. So the diplomats stayed near the bar eyeing the air hockey covetously until they left. On the plus side we met some very nice Omani, Swedish and Austrian diplomats, none of whom could bowl particularly well. American world hegemony clearly extends all the way to the bowling alley.
3 comments:
LOL. How old was the princess? I love that you have embassy mixers. Was it regular bowling with 10 pens or something weird like duckpin or even my favorite, candlepin?
LOL, that was funny! Too bad you didn't get to bowl. My kindergarten room is decorated like princesses. My 2 girls love their room, I think.
Too funny. Latin America doesn’t have any real princesses, but I’ve taken our foreign-service preschooler to a few Latin American elite children’s birthday parties. The formula seems to be:
(1) Load up kids, maid, and presents in to your SUV;
(2)Drive to country club (city club also acceptable); go to rented function room; and
(3) Chat over coffee with other Bogotá hot moms and that one gringo father who smiles awkwardly and tries to keep up in Spanish.
The hired performers and maids entertain the children, who have a blast. Relaxed attitudes about liability lawsuits and copyright infringement mean your children can party with a giant Elmo who encourages them to jump off chairs while singing Warner Bros.-licensed songs. It’s way more fun than Chuck-E-Cheese.
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