Jason and Zoë were invited to a 1st birthday party at a friend of ours'. They have two older children, a boy and a girl, and there were several children ranging from nine months to (I'd guess) nine.
The one year old, obviously, didn't completely grasp what was giong on. But neither did Jason and Zoë. They, along with other kids, were asked to bring the gifts over. However, they were all told they weren't allowed to open them. It took a bit to get Aiden, the birthday boy, to figure out that he was supposed to. So, as far as the kids were concerned, it appears we were sitting in a circle around unopened presents and doing nothing. So, every little bit, they tried to open presents again. They knew it was supposed to be happening, but no body was doing it. Once Aiden started opening them, they were of course completely caught up in seeing what he got.
They were equally confused by us standing in a circle and watching Aiden eat his personal cake, knowing full well that another cake sat in the wings...but they weren't getting any, yet.
Don't get me wrong. The kids behaved well. They were just confussed at a few points. They spent most of the time playing with the older kids, and with some of the more advanced toys Aiden got.
As far as Aiden was concerned he seemed to like best a hard plastic book (with lights and sounds and everything) and the three balls. One of which, had it been openable, he could have easily fit inside.
As we were walking to the car, Jason said, "Daddy, I had a good time."
"You did?"
"Yeah."
"Do you think we need to play with them again?"
"Yeah."
"Should they come visit us at our house?"
"No. We should go to McDonalds."
So, there you go.
-J
