Anya's Animal Themed Birthday Party - The Invite

Now that Anya's third birthday party is over, there is a quiet contentment in my heart. Birthday parties are like mini-weddings; you have to go through the whole rigmarole. Starting from invitations to thank you notes, guest list to vendor list, return gifts to prizes, dress to decor, cake to food, activities to entertainment, enlisting support of friends......the task list is endless.

I enjoyed putting together her animal and jungle themed party. Three is a fun age. Anya knows a lot about animals - she can identify them, name their young ones, tell about their sounds and habitats. She has been to a couple of zoos. There is hardly a day when we don't talk about animals. So it was only apt that I choose animal theme for the party.

After last year's message-in-a-bottle invitation, I had to do something which was more or at least equally creative. While surfing pinterest, I came across this monkey-wrapped-around-a-banana. It was an instant like, like, like! This was a food presentation idea for kids' party but I found it just perfect for an invite too. Thanks Anneke of Villa Figura for the sketch and clear instructions. I found a brown sheet and drew a monkey. As I don't have a printer at home, it was easier for me to trace from the first monkey and then cut the monkeys individually. I wonder now if I could have stacked them in twos or threes and cut them together to save effort. However, to save time, I drew and cut the monkeys whenever I had lengthy conversations over phone:) Over a period of a week, I had my bunch of monkeys swinging away to glory!

It has now become a ritual to write a little rhyme for Anya's birthday invite.

But rhymes don't come easily. It's such an effort! This conversation between Calvin and Hobbes perfectly reflects my frame of mind when it comes to writing a rhyme. (Read 'rhyme' instead of 'story' below)

And so 5 days before the party, my grey cells did a panic dance and came up with these words:

The party was on Sunday. Print outs were ready by Wednesday. On Thursday, bananas were ordered. 

By Thursday evening, monkeys went into a banana hug with a scroll of poem in hand and were ready to go! On a few bananas, I wrote" Because you will need all the energy......

Don't they look like little violinists?

I spent a lot of time taking pictures. Just couldn't get enough of the monkeys....they looked so adorable! Then away went Anya and I to all her friends to hand deliver the monkeys with their bananas. 

What's in a name?

A lot! So much so that I couldn't start blogging about Anya as I couldn't find an appropriate name for her blog. Three years have passed and many a blog post have gone unwritten. Those are now like lost treasures. Little memories which have gone unchronicled. Feelings which have gone unexpressed.
But as is said 'better late than never'. It's good that I have found a name to my satisfaction and I can blog away to glory. Let's see what my excuse is going to be now.

How to speed read a newspaper and other supermom tricks

Since becoming a Mom, I haven't been able to spend as much time reading newspapers as I would like to. 

Papers are read when feeding Anya, or when she sleeps (but then there are hundreds of other chores vying for attention). 

Old newspapers lie in every nook, corner and crevice of my home. Any empty drawer, shelf or magazine holder has unread papers. Once on 24th April 2013, I found myself reading a paper dated 26th April. I sat up with a start. How am I reading a pre-published newspaper? Did they put a wrong date? I rechecked the date on calendar and then in the newspaper. The date on the newspaper was 26th April alright but the year was 2012, not 2013! It was an year old newspaper! 

My sis-in-law is at a loss to understand my habit of storing old papers. I, for one, am a true Marwarin. I want full bang for my buck. My philosophy is that if I've paid for the newspaper, I better do full justice to it. Doesn't matter if it's a year later :)  

But seriously, what would I gain by reading a year old paper? A piece like 'A woman's brain is smaller but more effective' doesn't get old now, does it! It always is informative and useful. If I had dumped these papers, how would have I found out that there's a tool to turn sweat into potable water or that a 7 year old wrote to NASA and received a reply...! The joy of seeing life trot around in different flavors is something to relish. A new Mom needs adult conversation. Even if it is one-sided. Newspapers fulfill that need for me. 

Plus I can read filtered news. In politics section, all the drama has been played out and the outcomes known. So I can veer away from reading details and hence save time. You learn how to glean grain from the chaff. You read the headings and skim through relevant articles. Write ups that require detailed reading can be cut and kept aside for further attention, later :) 

Edit- When I moved from the apartment, I sold 3-4 gunny bags full of newspapers!