Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

I admit. I was a bit apprehensive about a Club Libby Lu birthday party. The cost, for one thing, was enough to give me pause. Another factor were the negative posts on the web and in newspapers, accusing Libby Lu of basically teaching little girls to be... let's keep with the family atmosphere on this blog and say trashy. But Kai really liked the idea, and when I looked into it in person, it didn't seem so bad on either count. So I decided to go for it. Turns out, it was a FABULOUS birthday party. In no way, at any time, did any of the activities seem even SLIGHTLY inappropriate (and I am a pretty strict mommy). The cost was _more_ than paid for with the great prizes the girls got to pick for their goody bags, which were also included and were actually cute little backpacks. The "makeover" that has feminists throwing hissy fits is no more than nail polish, pale pink eyeshadow and glitter lip gloss, with some glitter and rhinestones and a fancy hair do. The dance party at the end that some on the internet villified as an advertisement for pedophiles consisted of playing limbo and dancing to a line dance the kids do in GYM class. (Which involved lots of hopping, stomping, and turning in dizzy circles, with a few cha cha chas thrown in, as far as I could tell.) It's really scary to me that we live in a world were innocent dress up fun can be interpreted as a training ground for the next Paris Hiltons, just because it encourages little girls to ACT like little girls. *sigh* Okay, off my soapbox and back to the fun.

Kairi was treated like a COMPLETE princess from the second we entered Club Libby Lu. She and all her friends were greeted and given cute purple backpacks that said "I had a rocking time!" They were then allowed to pick 5 items from a big series of bins that had lip gloss, hair ties, sunglasses, necklaces, and so on, all tagged at $4.50 each if you bought them by themselves. Considering the party cost $20 a girl, the makeover, makeup compact, backpack and dance party were apparently free. Which is not that bad, since I didn't have to provide paper products, decorations, entertainment, or my house to make a mess in. Actually, it cost about as much as a movie party she had two years ago. And my kids are only allowed parties every other year, which lets us give them bigger parties when they do have them.

Next, they settled the girls around big heart shaped mirrors and started doing their hair and make-up. We had 8 girls total (which was NICE, because we HAD to invite her entire class by school rules, and might have had 15 show up including her special friends who aren't in her class!) They were giggling and having a wonderful time. Each girl got to pick their hairstyle - but 7 out of 8 girls picked exactly what Kairi wanted. They also got to pick their eyeshadow, nail polish and lip gloss shades and get rhinestone stickers on their cheeks. The whole store smelled like cotton candy and baby powder by the time they're done!

Once all the girls were done, it was time to party! The limbo and Cha Cha Slide got everyone giggling. We then headed down the mall to get some Haagen-Daaz ice cream, since food isn't allowed in Libby Lu. As you can imagine, 8 girls all dolled up with purple backpacks got a lot of attention - but not as much as Kai did! The girls were fighting over walking by her all the way down the mall. Apparently, she's quite the favorite. Or maybe it was just because it was her party! The ice cream, and then sitting in the mall rotunda to open presents were a sweet finish to the evening, and the girls headed home, after many hugs.

Kai headed through the mall to spend her Pawsenclaws gift card (from her brother) and designed an adorable Kitty stuffed animal. Then it was home to check out all of her loot. All told, she said it was her BEST birthday party ever!