Why didn't I think of that?

The girls and I were at the mall this evening looking around at first communion dress options for Darby (though she previously pointed out a dress she likes, we're exploring the non-three-figure options a little). We stopped in the food court to grab a bite, and within minutes of us sitting down, there was a commotion behind us. I turned around, and a family had pulled a bunch of the tables together, put a large table cloth on the (collective) table, and shortly thereafter there were more than a dozen kids sitting at the table. Soon to follow was a cake (of the birthday variety), a bunch of presents, and family members roaming around with camcorders and digital cameras.

Now, this was Saturday night in a trendy mall food court, somewhere around 7pm, so it was already crowded and hectic. And all of the sudden, there is a full-blown birthday party going right behind us, with kids running around screaming (I estimate the average kid age at 7), presents being opened, wrapping paper everywhere, flashes going off, happy birthday being sung. Combine this with ambient weekend mall food court ruckus, and you'll begin to imagine the mayhem we found ourselves in.

The marvel is that this seemingly spontaneous party began, occurred, concluded, and vanished in less time than it took the kids and I too receive and eat our food. When we were getting rid of our trash, they were long gone.

At first, I was perplexed by this phenomenon. But then I realized that family was on to something. They benefited from the best of both birthday worlds. All parents know that you basically have two birthday options for your kids... have it at home, or have it not at home. The home option is cheaper, but there's still all the setup and cleanup, which is a big pain. The non-home option, while usually lower maintenance from the setup/cleanup perspective, is unfortunately much more costly. Typically on the order of $75-150. But this food court birthday family got off easy. Not only did they not have it at home (avoiding the setup/cleanup), but by having it at the food court (in a clearly non-mall-coordinated fashion), it was essentially a free ride. Holy cow!

I'm not saying you'll see the girls and I and many of their friends at your local mall eatery celebrating a birthday any time soon, but I am in deep parental admiration of the ingenuity of that family (mostly in how slickly they pulled it off in very adverse conditions). Sometimes I think I'm a little bit smart. But on nights like this, I see that I've clearly got a thing or two to learn.