My granddaughter had a party today to celebrate her 8th birthday.  It was a grand affair with 5 little girls who brought their American Dolls with them.  My daughter and granddaughter had planned and gathered the goodies for months ahead of time.  The table decorations matched the invitations that matched the balloons, etc.  The maraschino cherried punch had enough cherries for all.  My daughter had organized the crafts to be done (straw hats to be decorated with spangles, glitter, “jewels”, etc. for the dolls, and masks to be decorated for the girls)  down to the last stick-on jewel and someone to use the hair dryer to dry the decorated masks.  There was cake, ice cream, croissant sandwiches and crudités to eat,  candles to blow out and presents to open.  Fun was had by all and after the last guest left, my daughter collapsed, drained, before starting on the next task on her endless list.

At the end of the day, as she was going off to bed, I asked my granddaughter if she had enjoyed her day.  “Thoroughly,” she said.  

I asked what her favorite part had been.  Since my daughter works full time as an elementary school teacher, time is precious; since she is saving for a house, so is money.  She had spent a lot of both in trying to make the party memorable for her daughter.

“The dancing,” my granddaughter said firmly, with a huge smile that seemed borne of feeling wonderful about it all over again at the very thought.  

“The dancing?,” I said, surprised. 

“Yep!  That was my favorite part!  It was such fun to dance all around with my friends!!”

My daughter had set the cable TV music station to the Family Road Trip station, so there had been a steady stream of oldies playing, and when not doing crafts or eating or opening gifts, the girls had danced with abandon in the family room.  

“Well,” I said, “Your Mama could have certainly saved herself a lot of time and money if she had known that!”

Of course, it would not have been the same if there had been no decorations, crafts, etc., but it just goes to show you: sometimes we spend all of our energy on the big stuff, when, in the end, it really is the simplest  little things that really count….