Enid’s birthday party is behind us, thank goodness! It was a lot of work at the end (especially for Robin) to get all of the food prepared. We didn’t know exactly how many people were going to attend, but of course we had to bring enough food for the high-end estimate. Then there were the last-minute errands before the party to pick up the cake, ice, and helium balloons. I had to make a hurried second trip back to town to get the balloons. But then it turned out I didn’t actually have to hurry at all because nobody showed up for the party on time. In fact, nobody showed up until after 5pm, although the invitation was for 4pm. Enid didn’t notice that the party started late (children her age are notoriously un-attentive to schedules). But it was extremely stressful for Robin and me. As the minutes crept by and 5pm approached we began to get a sinking feeling in our stomachs, contemplating the possibility that nobody was going to show up. It wouldn’t have mattered that much to us, but it would have been a hard blow for Enid, who was very excited about the party.

It got to the point where I began to prepare Enid for the bad news (“You know Enid, sometimes we make plans in life that don’t work out exactly the way we want…). But how do you tell your little girl that nobody is going to come to her birthday party? At 5:05pm, in total desperation, Robin and I began trying to round up strangers so that at least there would be someone to break the piñata and sing “Las Mañanitas” (the traditional Mexican birthday song) with us. There weren’t any children in sight, but we did invite over three young adults who were sitting nearby (and who, it turns out, live on right across the street from us in Del Valle). Fortunately, at 5:10pm, one of the invited families finally showed up, and by 5:30 two others had arrived. Ultimately nobody else came, but the five or six other kids that were there seemed to satisfy Enid’s expectations. I think she had a fine time. She was a little disappointed that she wasn’t strong enough to break the piñata (“Why do the big kids always get to break it?”), even though I had considerably weakened it with strategically placed knife cuts to. But other than that there were no complaints.

One other problematic element adding to the party fiasco was that on October 28th, after we had already sent out the invitations and completely to our surprise, Mexico went off daylight savings time. With the clocks set back one hour, suddenly the sun was setting an hour earlier than we had anticipated. So, combined with the fact that everyone showed up an hour late, the party turned out to be rather brief. But as I said, Enid didn’t seem to notice and had a good time. She was also delighted by the gifts she received. In an ironic twist, one of the unforeseen consequences of our trip to Mexico is that Enid is getting her first exposure to two venerable American merchandising icons: princesses and Barbie dolls. Among her birthday gifts were one princess doll, two princess costumes, a Barbie doll, and a (child-size) Barbie blouse. She also got a toy makeup kit. While we’ve never actively shielded Enid from beauty and glamour-oriented toys, in the past they somehow never found their way to her. I suppose that among a lot of our friends and family there is some philosophical discomfort with the conventional female gender roles that such toys promote. But the families of Enid’s classmates are entirely free of such concerns. So now, for better or for worse, Enid has a brand new set of toys and a brand new set of interests.