Last night we attended a birthday party for one of the teachers at our school. It was a wonderful night. What struck me the most about the evening was how deceivingly simple it was. The teacher's family organized an iPad based karaoke machine, a sign, dessert, music, balloons, the teacher's brother said mass (yes he is a priest), and each family brought food for themselves plus some. Children vastly outnumbered adults, and even managed the entertainment all night long. Many teens also assisted us parents by holding (and chasing) infants and toddlers efficiently across the school gymnasium for an hour or two.

Above you see my seven year old swing dancing with a wonderful spirited four year old. Later he was swing dancing with a lovely fifth grader! I am glad my children will have these memories, and lessons on good social graces. I will never be able to take them to fancy amusement parks, exotic locations, and even movies are a strain on the budget. But this type of night was both precious and priceless. You could even say it was magical.

-ehw

P.S. Yes the lights were out in the gym. You can really say it was one of the few times I really wished I had a costly full frame DSLR rig with see in the night capability!

-ehw