Atishaya’s Olympics

Bush of thick dark hair, supple agile structure, playful demeanor, wonder filled inquisitive eyes and a warm easy smile to go with. This is Atishaya. All of five, sensitive and innocence writ large on his face.

Atishaya is my friend’s son. I am extremely fond of this little monkey and when my kid and he meet, they are like a house on fire. So mischievous, noisy and what fun!

This year Atishaya turned 5. His mother Sonal, an anxious mum of two, turned down the kids wish for a party. Too much work, too little time and all the planning arranging headache didn’t quite appeal to this harried mother. But friends and family stepped in to help with the celebrations, assuring her that all would be well, she just needs to have a little faith. And my! did all go well ..?!!

Birthday Boy

A SPORTS themed birthday party seemed apt for the occasion. Atishaya and his friends are a riot when together. So to add fun and some decorum to the disorder, we decided to play mock Olympics, where little kids can move all that they want and be merry at the same time. Now that sounds like a fun idea.. doesn’t it.

You would think, all the trivialities and detailing costs a bomb, but hell no! The execution was concentrated to a tight budget and well… all good things in life are usually free or cheap… usually 🙂

Lets start with the invites:

Sonal, got these postcard sized printed invites, a smiley ball, along with a handful of confetti and few candies – all in a Ziploc pouch. They looked neat and easy to hand over. Around 15-17 kids were invited, along with the mothers.

Kids get a small treat before the party has even started… cool right?!!

Now for the D day, we organized the Olympics to be done in their society garden. Just a common area to play, so no charge or special permission was required.

The lovely family.

15 kids does not seem like a big number, but it did apprehend both Sonal and me. We underestimate our administrating capabilities where impish 5 year olds (boys especially) are concerned. Thus, Ami was roped in to play anchor.

Ami is a great girl, with such a loud voice that we would never need microphones or speakers around her. She commands silence and civility from boisterous boys… and gets it! Commendable. I scream myself hoarse and not one kid bothers to even look up. So, Ami’s innate adroitness compels me to bend like a japanese in front of her – always.

The Opening Ceremony

All the kids assembled in the garden in a big circle. The chief guest of the occasion(Atishaya.. guys! who else?)was placed in the middle along with his family. We then left a few balloons up in the air, declaring the games ‘OPEN'(It’s the kids Olympics.. what do ya expect!!?)

Declaring the Games Open.

We had 5 games:

• Hurdle Race
• Hula Hoop
• Basket the Ball
• Lemon n Spoon Race for mothers
• Fastest Pictures First, for both mothers and kids.

Hurdle Race

For this, the hurdles were take home treats for the little ones.
Bags, a bottle, sticker, bubble can and a whistle were placed at regular intervals, and the kids made to run in batches of 5. They had to bag the little goodies that came their way and reach the finishing line.
The breeze particularly high that day, was flying away our little gifts… so mothers were made to stand and hold the little things in place. And when Ami blew the whistle, Boys and Girls ran like lightning BOLT(:)) to the finishing line.

Racing for the little gifts.

Hula Hoop

Well, Since this is the Olympics with a twist, we played with the Hula Hoop but in a slightly altered form.
Asking the kids to pass the hoop over them countable number of times in a span of 30 seconds was pure fun. The child with the maximum number of passes wins the game. With the rest of the kids cheering for the bull in the ring, twas getting noisier and uproarious.

workout for kids:)

Basket the Ball

This is a no brainer. We’ve all tried to pass the ball into that elusive basket at one point of time in our lives. But for 5 year olds, this was great play, all clamoring, fighting and bickering for a first chance. Again, Ami’s skills came into play.

Young Michael Jordans.

Using a stand, replete with the basket and a perfect little mock basketball was joy not only for kids but the elders as well. We all tried a hand. Few could and few could not. But fun and merriment, nevertheless.

We wanna try too.

Break Time

After an hour of play and games in the sunny afternoons( Mumbai gets hot even in the evenings), the kids needed a breather. We distributed small/light snacks to replenish the energy drained little ones. A sandwich, few Oreos and an orange drink (packed neatly in individual bottles) was enough to get their groove back.

Kids boost their stamina

chatter, chatter, munch, munch…

Lemon and Spoon Race

While the kids ate, we had a few games for the mothers as well.
This age-old humble lemon and spoon race is one which can never go out of times. Spoon tightly shut in mouth, with a lemon precariously balanced on the spoon, hands strictly by the side, you are expected to finish the race, without the lemon falling.
Its great practice for wannabe models, and oh! did we discover new models on that day?!

See.. how carefully they tread.

Fastest Pictures First

A wonderful twist to the famous treasure hunt, this was the show stealer.
3 teams of 5 mothers and their respective kids were made. Each team was required to get 15 pictures( banking on the fact, that all have mobile phone cameras these days). Clues were given and according to the clues, photographs had to be clicked and saved. the team which finishes first with all 15 pictures, wins the game. Simple, no?

A sample of the clue list:

List of picture to be taken.

The teams rushed out to do the needful. They were all over the premises. Posing, clicking, checking and re checking, the mothers went all out and enjoyed the game.

Supercool and really sportive mommies.

Girls just wanna have fun.

The Prize Distribution Ceremony

Yea folks. We had this one too. Replete with real medals and laminated certificates. The mad hunt for the gold medals and all that hard work for these chic looking certificates… so worth it!

Shiny smiley medals and mock certs which look sooo real!

The super happy kids felt sooooo proud to receive an honour each. It was sheer pleasure for Sonal and Atishaya to distribute the tokens of achievement to tiny tots. Little ones raced up to collect the laurels at the call of their names.

Little kids with Big Honours!

Party Time!

At the end of a playful, gaming, competitive day, what do the Olympians do? Party guys, Party!
Once back home, the conviviality began.
Atishaya loves to dance. He likes to twist and turn and rock and roll to the latest hits and chart busters. Catering to the birthday boy’s final wish, there was lots of music, masti and dance. Ami turned choreographer( the girl’s multi talented) and Uncle Raja played DJ. The kids danced till their legs hurt and were hungry enough for cake and food.

They just can’t stop dancing.

A pair of good quality Badminton Racquets in attractive varied colors were given as party favours. So along with the little hurdles, medals, certificates and now these great looking badminton racquets, the kids felt so loaded!!:)

Return Gifts

The grand Finale

The cake is this rich dutch truffle in the shape of a football, in due accordance with the theme. The birthday boy fresh in his best clothes and a smile that you could not wipe out.

Happy Birthday Dear Atishaya

Just 2 week back, Sonal had thought of it as impossible but now candles alit, family and friends gathered around and Loads of blessings and happy faces. It’s too good to be true, she says.

3 cheers for everyone who chipped in. Hip Hip Hurray!

A kind note:

2 and a half months and 50 posts later, I feel the need to thank all my friends, foodies and beloved readers. This post is my 50th. For me its a milestone reached.

When I started this blog, I had very few hopes. Not knowing what I was getting into, wary of joining the blog bandwagon but momentarily…. with all fears dashed, I just dived in. Well, I am nowhere near a swimmer in the blog pool but I am trying.

I write about food, I write about interesting anecdotes in daily life, I write about my phenomenal daughter, I write about small events/parties which I immensely enjoy, I write about Life and I love what I do.

Thank you, for visiting, reading, appreciating and leaving wonderful comments. It’s always motivating to see a like/comment/critique. And its only because of you, dear reader, I am thoroughly enjoying my sojourn as a blogger.

So don’t stop hitting that like button and keep the comments coming.

Love to all,
Namrata

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