Birthday party :-)

It was with some trepidation that I went ahead and booked a full on traditional, village hall, pass the parcel and jelly type party for starlet's first birthday with me. I knew it was risky only seven months into placement, but she tugged on the heart strings when she told me she'd never had a proper party before (ff tended to do the low key four friends out for tea or to soft play kind of thing). 27 excitable children who hadn't seen each other for two weeks, two hours to fill, lots of sugar-fueled energy... And starlet was wonderful. She was a natural hostess, watching out for the two little girls who didn't know anyone else. She was genuinely over the moon to receive presents and took just as much pleasure in the cards. She joined in with everything, accepted the fact that she didn't win any games and when she got a sweet in pass the parcel, passed it on to the much younger child next to her. 

Ok so we had a meltdown the next day but it was totally worth it... So proud of her and so lovely to see her so happy!