In September when Amanda had her re-evaluation with her ND the 2 of us drove down to Okotoks together. It was so fun to have just her. She opened up & talked like crazy! One of the things I asked her was what she’d like to do for her birthday. Her immediate response was “a shopping birthday”. I thought that could be kind of fun...what kid doesn’t like to play store? Then as we talked some more I realized she was talking about what gift she wanted for her birthday (she’d been eyeing a cash register at the homeschool store). Oh well...I thought I could do that for her gift & base the party around it.
Fast forward to middle of October...I still haven’t planned her party & it’s only a few weeks away. I start brainstorming for ideas. The “playing store” was a good idea, but how was I going to turn it into a party? Well, to spare you the thought process & details, here’s how it turned outJ.
Since the church was already booked (we usually do our parties there because our house is too small), my parents graciously let us use their house. As guests arrived, they were greeted at the front door with balloons & a sign welcoming them to “Amanda’s Razzle-dazzle Wondermart”. Yes it sounds like a goofy name...but I thought it would be fun to have it match her initials (Amanda Ruth Werdal)...besides, goofy is fun for a 6 year oldJ.
As they entered guests could take a mall brochure which included a list of stores & what they contained along with a map. It also listed the mall hours (party time) & location, as well as mall history:
About this mall: Amanda’s Razzle-dazzle Wondermart has been operating for 6 years. Owner Amanda Ruth Werdal loves to shop & works hard to provide you with a pleasant shopping experience. Come & check out our selection of stores. We look forward to serving you!
First the kids came to “Build-A-Bag” where I had plain brown gift bags that they decorated. Amanda had written her initials on all the butterflies & I wrote in the name. Each of the kids got a butterfly & stickers to decorate with. 
Once their gift bags were decorated we started shopping. First I took the little kids (2 & 3 year olds) to “Little Tykes”, a store especially for toddlers. They each got to pick a notebook, crayons & a book. They headed downstairs to play while I took the rest of the kids shopping (age 4-9). At “The Write Shop” they picked out a pen, stickers, a notebook & an activity book. “My Favorite Things” was a toy store where they got a ball & another toy (don’t know what it’s calledJ). “Trinket Town” was the jewlery store where they picked a bracelet (glow ones for the boys).
Finally we headed to “Cheese Please”, the photography studio where they received a free gift (blistex) when they had their picture taken.
After they were done shopping the kids headed downstairs to play while I got ready for cake. I had made the cake look as much as I could like the cash register that we bought Manda (other than colorJ). 
She was thrilled. We did cake & presents & that was it. 
Numerous people have said how much work I went to, but it was really a very simple party. The hardest part was just going to the dollar store & deciding what to buy for each store & what to name the stores. Other than that it was the easiest party I’ve done! I’m just thrilled that Manda had so much funJ.
Since most of our family is boys, they usually dominate our birthday parties...Manda was very happy to have a few girls to share her special day!
Happy 6th birthday Manda!!!
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