A Birthday Party

Mia had a full schedule of activities this week. She went to "camp" again on Monday and Wednesday. Sarah took her to the pool on Thursday, and Jeff and I took her again tonight.
Today, Sarah and I took Mia to a birthday party for a lovely little girl in her Families with Children from China (FCC) playgroup. The party was at a park, and Mia was way more interested in playing on the swings than in eating cupcakes.
At one point, the other kids (all older than Mia) took pieces of cardboard and slid down a small but steep grassy hill. Growing up in Minnesota, we'd used cardboard for makeshift snow sleds, but I would never have thought of doing the same on grass. It was hysterical. Mia watched it all from the safety of the nearby swings. I thought about joining the group and sliding with Mia on my lap, but then I remembered I was wearing a dress.
The party was just my idea of what a little girl's birthday party should be: A craft project, a wading pool where the kids could fish with those little magnetic fishing rods, squirt guns, and a pinata. (We kept Mia out of the fray on the pinata, but I scooped up a toy whistle for her. We're trying to teach her to blow.) None of this renting ponies or going to the Ice Capades or clowns or the traveling reptile show, but every bit as fun. (I guarantee there will never be a clown at my child's birthday party.)
Another mildly interesting thing happened at the party. When we arrived, the party was well underway in one of those covered pavilions with picnic tables. The pavilion was mostly empty except for the partygoers. The food and gifts were on one table, the Chinese girls and their moms were sitting at a second table doing a craft project, then some other families with Caucasian children were sitting at a third table right next to them. I first went to the "Chinese" table said Hi to the moms, all of whom I'd met at previous FCC events. Then I went over to the other table to say hello to the other moms. I said "Hi, my name is Donna" to the nearest mom (let's call her "Jill") and shook her hand. Jill returned the handshake rather unenthusiastically while giving me a very strange look, as did her tablemates. Then she hesitatingly said, "Are you here with THAT group?" nodding toward the other FCC families. About that time, the FCC moms saw what was going on and they had a big laugh. The birthday girl's mother came over and rescued me, laughing and saying, "She's just really friendly!" (Which is true, of course. And I have to say that Jill seemed way more embarassed than was warranted under the circumstances.)

Almost forgot about our trip to the pediatric dentist on Tuesday. That deserves an entry all its own.