Today while the boys were napping I suggested to Ali that we have a tea party. It's been way too long since we've pulled out the little set that used to be my own mom's and then mine. Usually Ali is excited about tea parties but she had her own agenda and wanted to ride bikes with the neighbor girl. Not only do I not want her hanging out with the neighbor girl very often but I knew the neighbor girl's mom wanted her inside for a while anyway so I explained this to my daughter. At first she was acting out and I was on the verge of totally NOT practicing gentle mothering. I was thinking, "I've been trying to do a tea party with you for a couple of weeks now and things have come up or we've had too many things going on or Jeremiah is awake and when I can FINALLY do it, you tell me you don't want to and scream in my face? Ahhhhhhhh!"
Instead of losing my cool, I tried to stay calm and explain how much fun it would be to have a tea party and when I mentioned real cocoa and marshmallows, not just pretend, she was sold on the idea. We had a nice time and although cocoa got poured all over the doily (handmade by King Jo's grandma) it will wash out! I made Ali do the tea dishes in a little washbasin when we were done. I think we each had around 15 cups of cocoa considering the cups were the size of a tablespoon! I hope we can continue to have tea parties throughout the years and bond as a mother and daughter.
What kind of tea parties do you all have with YOUR daughters?
3 comments:
It's been awhile, but a few months back we had a tea party. We had little pieces of ham rolled up and held together with toothpicks, cubes of cheese, mini muffins, carrots, chocolate truffles for dessert, and lemonade in tea cups. I put a tablecloth on our coffee table, put the food in pretty little dishes, lit a candle, had a vase of flowers on the table, and put a classical music CD on. Madison absolutely loved it!
These tea parties sound wonderful. I have attended Ladies Tea at various points in my adulthood and everytime I feel more ladylike. I am working on planning a special tea party for Jalinda as a graduation of learning some ladylike manners. It should be great fun.
I am always reminded that the one-on-one activities are so benefitial for our family relationships. I am THRILLED you made time for Alathia. No doubt there were other ways you could have spent naptime. I'm sure it was a blessing to all that you prioritized Ali during those momments. Great Job!!!
awww, how sweet!
Sometimes we have tea parties with real tea and in my real china tea cups. The kids love it :)
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