Amy's 7th Birthday/Pyjama Party

What is the only thing wilder than 15 seven year-old girls? Fifteen seven year-old girls and one four year-old. We planned Amy's birthday party for a Friday night and allowed her to invite all the girls in her class, expecting that a lot of families would have other things going on. Only 2 did- leaving us with 15 plus Emily. It was the girliest two hours of my life.

Being a pyjama party meant- doing hair, nails, pillow talk...all that stuff. The food was good- pizza, popcorn, cheese puffs, chocolate dipped strawberry marshmallows and candy bars. That part of pyjama parties is just up my alley.

The girls were all well behaved, and luckily the moms were not around to stare wide-eyed at the moments that bordered on unremitted chaos. They had fun, and so did we. The chronicles of the two hour saga are below.

Hair braiding was Lana's task from the second the first girl arrived until the last one left. They all wanted french braids- which took forever. Luckily she'd already planned everything so well I just had to corral the girls from one spot to another.

Nail painting was a popular activity. I was enlisted to paint no fewer than 25 fingers throughout the evening. I joked that I should quit my job and start a beauty salon. Instead of laughing, they asked what my job is now. After wrinkling their noses at the fact that accountants do a lot of 'maths', they agreed I should go into the 'nail varnishing business'. Who knows...aren't we all supposed to change careers 8 times during our working lives?

Lana sewed their names on white pillowcases and then the girls were free to draw pictures or use stencils to decorate them. It was a big hit.

Perspective is everything. One girl proclaimed that our garden (back yard) which probably measures only 20ft by 100ft is "way better than the school yard." That's right, School - with your endless field of grass, log trail playground, raised vegetable gardens and decorative willow arches- my yard is better. (I think the chocolate dipped marshmallows with sprinkles may have helped our position somewhat).

The only group game was Pass the Pillow. They passed the pillow round the room until the music stopped. Whoever was holding it pulled a slip of paper from the pillow and if they successfully completed the task (hop like a frog, growl like a bear, etc.) they got a small prize. Put mildly- it was an energetic experience.

The cake was very good and the rendition of Happy Birthday incredibly high pitched and rousing. By this point with all their hair braided the same I wouldn't have known which one was Amy had she not been seated conveniently in front of the cake.

The collective fruits of the evening's activities: 'plaited hair', 'varnished nails', and decorated pillow cases. Of course while everyone had a good time, Amy smiled the biggest when she finally saw the extent of her pile of loot. One benefit of having 14 other girls show up.