Monday, September 14, 2009

CHILDREN'S ORNATE TEA PARTIES

Ornate Children’s Tea Parties

Every little girl loves to pretend and imitate their mommy. We also know that every little girl loves to dress up. An Ornate Tea Party is the simple answer to every little girls dream. My daughter grew up having tea parties at a very early age. I can remember purchasing her first little glass tea set. If my memory serves me right she was two years old. We would sit on the living room floor in the winter time on a large blanket. I would prepare some toast with jam and we would use our favorite cookie cutter shapes to make our toast ornate.

We first began our pretend tea parties using only water in our little glass tea cups. At age three we ventured into using real tea. I believe that even small children need to experience using real glass tea cups. How do we ever get our children to appreciate the beauty and the fragile feel of a tea cup if we don’t allow them to actually use a glass cup. Yes, you may have a break but children will surprise you at how fast they learn to be gentle when they understand that there is a need to be.

I have a Montessori background and I was always amazed at the two and three year olds that worked in the environment in the Practical Life area. This area was filled with glass that allowed these small children to pour water, seeds, sand, etc out of beautiful glass pieces. Yes, we had some breaks but never intentionally. A child’s ornate tea party experience has to involve the beauty of glass.
Our tea parties over the years as my daughter grew up were spent in many ornate places. We had tea parties under tents that were built with blankets, sitting on our un-made bed in our pajamas, outside in the wooded area behind our house sitting on a special log, sitting on the front porch, and even in the back seat of our car while it simply sat in the garage. These may sound like very strange places to have an ornate tea party but guess what, that is what made them so ornate. The memories we created were priceless. Memories neither one of us will ever forget.
As the years progressed we began to invite my daughter’s little friends to our ornate tea parties. When my daughter entered school the parties would always begin with tea and cookies and often progress into a pampering party with toenails and fingernails being painted.
In Junior High the parties took on more of a grown up look with the girls usually sitting around some sort of table giggling, sipping hot tea, and talking about boys. In High School the ornate tea parties became serious. Our home was known as the Tea Party home. These parties often had a theme and devotions were an important component of the party. I always used my favorite Tea Party book with the girls. If Teacups Could Talk by Emilie Barnes was the treasured Tea Party book at our house. Tea parties are such wonderful ways to build precious memories.
My daughter is all grown up now but I still love to hear her say, “mom remember when we had that tea party…” Today she is having ornate tea parties with her three year old daughter. We have come full circle. What more could I ask for? Memories… begin to build some. It is never too late!

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