The Dating Game?
Throwing out a kiss, MUAH!
Well, well, well…I think I just set my six year-old up on a date!? Maybe.
I do know that I just gave Azul’s phone number out to a girl. To be fair, I actually gave my number to another little girl’s mom, but for some reason the exchange made me feel like Jim Lange ready to throw out a kiss at the end of “The Dating Game” to solidify the new relationship.
Cue applause.
Announcer: “Here is the star of our game, Azul’s mommy!” I gleefully walk out on stage, microphone in hand, a skip in my step and a wave for the studio audience.
Continue applause.
Announcer: “Now welcome bachelor number one. He is six, in kindergarten and his favorite class is P.E.”
More applause.
Announcer: “And let’s say hello to our lovely bachelorette, she is also in kindergarten, has blonde hair and freckles!”
Applause fades.
I’m not exactly sure what happened, most of the real conversation was mute to me because I had The Dating Game scenario playing in my head. It all started very innocently.
“Hi, I don’t think we’ve ever officially met,” said the mini bachelorette’s mom as she approached me on the playground after school and introduced herself.
“Hi!” I responded as I stood up to shake her hand and continued the introductions. “I’m Carmelina.” At this point the interaction was similar to every other conversation I have had with other classmate’s parents.
“You know my daughter talks about Azul all the time. She really likes him, as you can see, they’re always playing together. We should get together for a play date.” She pointed them out playing tag or chase or something. I turned my head to see them playing and then back to her with a knowing smile on my face.
“Yeah, that sounds awesome,” I answered. I’m not sure what part of what she just said triggered it, but this is when my mind started doing its own thing and The Dating Game was on!
Bachelorette: “Describe your idea of the perfect play date.”
The mom continued, “Maybe one day Azul can come over to our house to play and you can pick him up later.”
“Sure, yeah. You guys just live down the street, right?” I said slowly, still smiling and now nodding. Then there was some talk about where both of us live, but I was focused on the game show playing in my head.
Bachelorette: “If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?”
“You know we think Azul is so nice and sweet. Our daughter told us he was the best behaved kid in class.” She was definitely more involved in the conversation than I was. I just stood there, my stance as dependable as a bobble head on the dash of a car.
“Thanks,” I said, smiling and nodding.
Bachelorette: “My mother is very protective, how would you describe yourself to her to make a good impression?”
“Let me get your number and I’ll text you, then you’ll have mine,” she said, grabbing her phone as the mini bachelorette came running up.
“Okay,” I responded and gave her my number and waved good-bye, as she and the mini bachelorette walked away hand in hand, leaving me standing alone at the playground dumbfounded.
Announcer: “Well it seems as if you kids are off to a great start!”
Applause.
Everyone throws a kiss in unison, “MMMMUAH!”
More applause.
What just happened?
Piñata Party!
First of all I want to say, piñatas are awesome! Nothing makes a party like beating on some inanimate object until it spews candy. And until recently, it never occurred to me that people wouldn’t have access to a Mexican Mercado to pick one up or that they didn’t know how to make their own piñata.
This is one of the easiest family friendly projects to do and really you don’t need a “party” excuse to make your own this weekend.
All you need is: balloons, firm paper, newspaper cut in 2 inch wide strips, flour, water, a baking dish, sheets of crepe paper, glue, and any other embellishment you want to add.
Step #1 – Decide what shape you want your piñata. Don’t go crazy with this first step, to ensure piñata success, keep it simple. We chose the Death Star, because everything we do involves Star Wars.
Step #2 – Blow. Balloons work great as a frame for your piñata and you can always use multiple balloons or firm paper to get the shape you want, just glue or twist them together. Luckily the Death Star is round (keep it simple).
Step #3 – In a long baking dish, combine flour and water together to create a paste. Work with it a little bit with your hands, you do want it the consistency of paste. The amount depends on the size of your project and the good news, if you run out, just make more, it you have too much, it’s just flour, throw it out.
Step # 4 – Dip the strips of newspaper in the paste, remove the excess, drape it on the frame and smooth it out. Repeat the process until your frame is almost completely covered. Be sure to leave a hole on the top, so you can load it with candy.
Step # 5 – Let it dry. Completely! Then pop the balloon. It might just pop by itself and scare the piñata stuffing out of you!
Step # 6 – Decorate it with crepe paper. We made our Death Star smooth and glued large pieces of the paper on the surface, then smoothed it out. But, it is very common to cut the crepe paper into 1×1 inch squares and use a pencil to apply the decorative paper. Just take the pencil eraser place it in the center of the square and cinch the paper it around, then dip it in a little glue and apply it to the “naked piñata.” Make sure to cover all of the newspaper.
Step # 7 – More drying. Yaaaawn!
Step # 8 – Fill it with candy and cover the hole with a piece of crepe paper. Instant party! Hang it up, grab a bat and give it a smack. Adult supervision is suggested, watch who’s swinging the bat and where it goes once the candy is flying. You might be surprised how quickly a party ends when someone gets hit with a bat.
Sometimes, six year-olds bug!
Azul and I were having our ritualistic after school conversation, “How was your day? Good. How was yours? Good.” Then I told him I had swallowed some gnats while I was biking earlier that day. There were gnats everywhere! Some people were even wearing masks to keep the little bits of protein out of their system. And to be fair, I didn’t swallow them all, I snorted two of them right up my nose. Charlie Sheen might call that “winning!”
Well, his six year-old response of course was in song, “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly!” And then he couldn’t stop laughing and singing, over and over. It was as if this was the funniest thing he had ever said in his entire life. Are you kidding me?! Ugh!
He wasn’t grossed out or even excited about eating bugs, he went straight to making fun of me! I don’t know where he gets that from.
After the initial shock of being called an old lady subsided, I was able to appreciate the joke, which was actually super funny! I do know where he gets that from.
Carmelina Hart 