a child's b'day party turned into chaos?

A kid's birthday party should be fun, entertaining, and memorable not only for the celebrant but also for the guests as well. However, much too often, kids' parties almost always turn chaotic because one, you're dealing with kids and you know how kids are. So it is important to have a program that will not cause inconvenience to the adult guests without removing the fun from the kid guests. What some do is have separate preparations for the kids and the adults but on the same day but at different time skeds. In the invite card, it states what time the party for kids starts and when it ends. Usually the party for adults starts as soon as the party for kids ends. This kind of set-up isn't perfect since it extends the party longer than necessary and thus create more chaos than needed. Just picture this scenario: Kids eating their own food with their parents or yayas by their side. When it is time for the parents to eat, the kids are still by their side and they could not help feeding their children with "real" food as they are also eating. I mean, why have separate times for eating? You can have separate tables for kids and adults, the kids getting their food first while assisted by an adult, and as they are eating, the adults can also start getting their own food so they can at least eat along with their children. This way the party will end without much ado. When you separate the parties, one doesn't know whether the party has already ended or has just started. That spells chaos. And as I have always been saying, the secret to keeping the attention of everyone intact is a good host.

So sweet for a 7-year-old...

Dew Geisha, the 7-year-old kid in the house, asked if she could have dinner early yesterday, so let her. A few feet away from my office is a fastfood where she had dinner by herself. What amazed me was what she did after eating. She must have observed my practice of taking home whatever left-over food we have, so even without my telling her, she came back with a doggie bag containing her left-over food. This girl does not speak Bisaya and the thought that she had to go up to the counter to ask for plastic in which she could place her left-over food is just sweet.

Tyra Banks on texting

The Tyra Banks show recently tackled an interesting issue called "Random Acts of Rudeness" and one of those acts considered as RUDE is texting a person so many times a day expecially when she or he is no longer responding. This incident happened to me and I totally agree with Tyra that we have no right to invade into a person's privacy even through texting. When someone did this to me, I even resorted to having everything recorded in the police blotter, showing all the messages, just in case. One can never be sure what's going on in the minds of people. Too many loonies around these days.There is no need to explain this but when a person receives foolish text messages from the same person many times a day, what do you expect the recipient to do? Be happy and say thank you? Texting someone countless of times a day even when he or she is not responding is a form of stalking.

"Mga Laro sa Buhay Ni Juan"

Inviting those of you who are in Manila to go watch the movie "Mga Laro Sa Buhay ni Juan" showing na at one of Robinson's theaters. It casts Hari ng Negros 2006, a Dumagueteno, so please go and buy your ticket now as the movie only runs this week.

"surprise" party: is it possible?

A friend of mine planned to give a "surprise" birthday party to her husband. She wanted it to be all "hush-hush", that everything will be under wraps and that her husband should really remain clueless 'til the party hour. I had doubts about this because how can one keep this kind of "secret" from someone close to you, or someone living in the same house, etc. It just wasn't possible, I told her. But she pushed through with her plan only to be surprised herself by the celebrant when he actually found out about it himself by accident when he chanced to take a peek at the venue earlier that day, where he saw his name and photo plastered on the backdrop of the stage. So? How can one truly have a "surprise" party for someone so close to you?