Posted by Karen

OK, so the title of this entry is kind of clumsy.  However, I want to get “FOP” in the title of each of my blogs, so please forgive me. 

Anyway…  What makes a great Christmas party, if you’re a kid?  I’d have to say, in no particular order, fun holiday crafts, making gingerbread houses, eating lots of goodies, play time, and, of course, presents!  Luckily for Miranda and her brother Owen, the party we went to yesterday had all that stuff, and more, in spades.

Pete and I took our kids yesterday to the Starlight Foundation “Stars On Ice” holiday children’s party.  The Starlight Foundation is an international charity which exists to bring fun and happiness into the lives of children with serious medical challenges (both illness and ability-related).  Among many other things, Starlight puts on fun events like this holiday party for such kids and their families, with the idea being to give the families a chance to put their troubles aside and have a good time.  Miranda of course qualified by virtue of having Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva.  This was the first time we’d been to a Starlight event, and I was very impressed.

Here's Miranda drinking hot cocoa at the party.

The party was held in a large community room at the complex which houses the Richmond Art Gallery, Archives, Museum and Public Library.  It started at 1:30 PM.  When we arrived, we learned that the idea was just to wander around from one part of the room to another, trying whatever fun activities there were to choose from. 

Miranda and Owen got into the spirit right away…  One of the first things Miranda tried was “spin art”, where a volunteer helper puts a piece of white construction-type paper on a spinner in a box, and then the child stands there and squeezes paint into the box.  The spinner causes the paint to spiral across the paper, making interesting and colourful patterns.  Miranda thought that one was REALLY cool.  Owen, for his part, made a bee-line for the Wii station, where he quickly got into a game of 4-way Mario Kart with 3 other boys.

The kids also had the chance to each make their own gingerbread houses, which Miranda thought was awesome.  The small houses were pre-made by volunteers, but had blank walls for the kids to squeeze icing onto and plaster with candies.  Given that Miranda is not quite 5 years old, her house didn’t have any particular pattern or design, but boy did she have a blast pasting colourful sweets all over it!

Miranda with her super fun gingerbread house.

Other activities the kids got to try included making small oil-type paintings on mini-canvases, making pipe-cleaner and bead crafts, and having their faces painted.  Miranda didn’t get so much into that last one, but Owen got a great “Bat Man” face.

After a little while, Starlight also brought in a magician.  He did a 45 minute show for the kids, and they had a great time giggling while he did silly tricks.

Finally, the last event for the party was when the Starlight folks handed out a Christmas present to each and every kid present.  Naturally, Miranda and Owen thought that was the highlight of the afternoon.  :-)  When each child’s name was called, he or she went up on a stage, received a present, and then had his or her picture taken with the Starlight mascot, “Starry”, and a local municipal politician from Richmond.  Owen’s name was called first, and it turned out he got a mini-racetrack set with a battery centre which makes the cars go around the track.  Miranda was called a bit later, and she got a 2-part present with an art set which included markers, paints, crayons, etc and also a pretty little fairy which came with a spinner which makes her fly off around the room.  Both our kids were DELIGHTED with these gifts, which were well-chosen for their ages.

Owen getting his gift...

...and Miranda getting hers.

Finally, at 4:30 PM came the “Stars On Ice” part of the afternoon, as everyone headed over next door to the ice rink for skating.  Skating is, unfortunately, one of those activities which is pretty much “out” for Miranda due to her FOP, at least at this young age (maybe when she’s older, if she really wants to try and is willing to be decked out in full protective Klingon battle gear).  However, the Starlight people had reserved a disabled hockey-type sledge for her use, and that worked just fine.  We put a helmet on Miranda’s head, strapped her in, and went off skating.  Based on the grin on Miranda’s face, I think she had a pretty fun time sliding across the ice.

The party officially ended with the skating.  Our little family then rounded off the day with hot dogs and drinks from the concession stand at the rink.  Then, after returning rental skates and helmets (just mine and Miranda’s, as Owen and Pete had their own), we were finished and piled into the car to go home.

At the skating rink.

Starlight really put on a great party, and I think they achieved their objective.  Based on how much fun all the kids were having, it seemed everybody managed to forget about medical stuff and just let loose.  I know we sure did.  I think we’ll be back for more events with Starlight…

By the way - as this will probably be my last blog before December 25, I’ll say that I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, wherever you may be!

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