Comment: The Princess/President Paradox

"Mommy, you look like the President!"

"Mommy, you look like a princess!"

My son’s is the first quote, my daughter's the second.

This speaks volumes about what’s on their minds.

My son wants to be President. We were going through the umpteeth scholastic book order pamphlets (Leaflets? Brochure-izines? Micro-catalogues?) today and he asked for a book about President Obama. My son is nearly six.

My daughter is all about princesses. It shouldn’t surprise any of you that she’s nearly four.

And I spent the past hour in Target running around in the (relative) calm of late night shopping to find loot for the damn loot bags that will need to be distributed at their low-key (I hope) and (relatively) small party.

Organizing a child’s birthday party is a lot like organizing a wedding. The guest list selection is brutal. Am I inviting the kids my kids actually play with, or the ones they talk about all the time? Am I inviting the moms I like irrespective of how our kids get along? How deep into the social circle do you go? What’s the policy on siblings? Are the dads coming too? I’ve been at parties where the whole family is there, even though the kid only marginally knows the birthday celebrant.

It’s an event now, this whole birthday party thing. People are having them at Build-a-Bear and Chuck E. Cheese and Gymboree and and Pump it Up (I swear I am not making any of these names up). It’s easy to complicate things and agonize and forget that it’s a kids’ party, FFS. All they really need is cake and a bouncy house.

But back to my kids’ comments. I was dressed up (I’m trying to walk my talk, people!) for a school meeting and I had just put on my swanky vintage car coat. I’m not sure why that made me look presidential or princess-like, but I believe it was my children’s way of saying, “You look good, Mom”; or at least, “You look presentable enough to leave the house”.

I’ll take what I can get.