Family Matters,  Niece-com-poops,  party party,  the sticks

Tea Party at Grandma’s

April 19, 2010 /

tea

My Grandma is the Queen of theme parties. In my lifetime she’s thrown full blown shin-digs that range from a Greek dinner where everyone wore togas and sat at long tables eating baklava and sandwiches wrapped in grape leaves to a crazy tie-die t-shirt-wearing “Un-Birthday Party” for the whole family…to a train station party for my brother when he was three that included various ticket-punching stations and a relay race across the backyard with a giant over-stuffed suitcase. I have so many memories of these crazy full-blown over-the-top parties. And I don’t mean over-the-top expensive. They weren’t. They were just really creative and fun. So maybe some of that enthusiasm for a good theme party trickled down to me.

Grandma

When I posted a little blurb a while back about wishing I could host a black and yellow tea party, my Grandma took hold of my idea and ran with it. Mind you, she’s getting older now and has to be really careful that she doesn’t over-do because she tends to end up in the hospital when she does. This is really hard for her because the one thing she really loves to do is over-do. I can so relate.

She asked me to let her know when I was coming to town again and she started planning. She tucked little ideas away in an idea folder and before I knew it had dreamed up the most fantastic pink-themed tea party for little girls. The only problem was scheduling it. When would be a good time for all of us and not put Grandma over the edge and in the hospital again?

I knew I was heading out to the sticks this weekend so I called her up and we set a date. The only problem was she really really couldn’t over-do because she is scheduled to fly up to Canada on Tuesday for another granddaughter’s wedding. We can’t have her sick when she has a very important wedding to attend.

At first Grandma said she couldn’t do it. Then my Aunt Keren called up and said maybe she could if we were all really careful and helped out a lot. It’s such a hard call. To over-do or not over-do. Grandma only has so many more days left here with us. Should we live them up having fun tea parties or should we keep her in bed resting so she can stay with us longer?

making sandwiches

We voted for both. The girls helped out making sandwiches.

Auntie Mom helps with the sandwiches

I think my Aunt Keren did a lot of behind the scenes work and made sure Grandma stayed sitting down. And my mom, who is on a very strict diet and couldn’t eat a single thing on the menu, even helped out.

tea party with Grandma

I think everything worked out. We weren’t short on effort…

plate o' treats

pink lemonade

…or food.

searching for clues

Then after our delicious tea party lunch we had a little treasure hunt for the girls and the last clue was to put Grandma to bed so she could rest.

Reading with Great Grandma

Because we want to do this again and again and again…if Grandma is feeling up to it, of course.

15 Comments

  • Becca

    April 20, 2010 at 9:00 am

    And now I’m crying! So very sweet, YAY for a tea party with Grandma! And double YAY for Grandma not overdoing it so she can go to a very important wedding.

  • BeachMama

    April 20, 2010 at 10:26 am

    Ahhh, what a perfect tea party. And now we all know where you get your awesome theme planning genes from, Grandma! I hope she is on her way up to Canada for the wedding and that she didn’t over-do it. I want a tea party now, I just wonder if I can actually plan one and do it?!?

  • Ninabi

    April 20, 2010 at 12:50 pm

    What a treasure your grandma is! I can’t think of a better memory for all the littler ladies in the family than this tea.

    Tell your mom she is looking fantastic, too.

  • Aunt Kathy

    April 20, 2010 at 3:54 pm

    Ahh! Sweet. Thank-you for not over-doing it so she could be at a “very important” wedding. She’s here now and just got up from her nap. Alas, Auntie is in bed with a terrible cold. We told her to sleep until she was better. As for the bride-to-be, she is out and about running errands – checking with the florist (who got the WRONG color!), delivering food and decorations to the hall, returning redundant gifts, etc. That girl doesn’t sit still!

  • carrien (she laughs at the days)

    April 21, 2010 at 8:03 pm

    What a beautiful little tea party. The memories will be the best part. My grandma was wonderful at making tea special occasion. She pulled out the good silver and the fancy cups, and there was always a bit of cake or something stashed away to make our afternoon breaks a treat.

    ps. I love the color of her walls. It’s so pretty.