A Crazy Rainy Day Party

"Welcome to our Indoor Party" as written by a six-year-old

The rain fell, the wind blew... all night long.
School holidays drag on into the final week.
Bored children rumble through the house looking for trouble.

Mummy sits in her PJ's checking her emails, wondering: How on earth can I stop the riots today?
A sneaky idea nudges the corner of her mind...
A party might be fun.
The idea grows stronger... Hmmmm, a party.
A Rainy Day Party.
Why not?

Face painting

Mummy throws off her PJs and grabs the phone.
Just a few friends is all we need, to make some fun on this rainy day.
A few friends, some cupcakes and other easy treats.
Who wants to join us?
Several calls later the party is on.
A crowd of housebound rain refugees will be arriving at 10.30am. Oooh. Er. It's 9am.

Better get the team on board, we've got a party to organise, cakes to bake...

The team are lurking in the lounge watching SpongeBob.
Their response is less than enthusiastic.
Ingrates.

Too bad, thinks mummy, I will do it myself, have fun myself.

Eating

A little voice calls down the hall, "Mummy I have a poooooo...!"
A little person emerges, nappy-less.
Alarm bells sound in mummy's head.
Where is the poo???

Nooooo! The poo is smeared all over the bedroom carpet.
Several toy trucks have been rolled through it.
The parking garage has been smeared with the stuff and a few happy flies buzz contentedly.
It's 9.15. People are coming! I have cupcakes to bake! And now I have s**t to clean!!!!
Why oh why today of all days, Mummy asks herself.
Am I crazy to have a rainy day party?
Maybe so, maybe so.

Miss Fab gets artistic

Mummy scrubs and mops, scours and disinfects. She throws the poo-monster in the bath and whips up a batch of gluten-free dairy-free chocolate crackle while he splashes.

Finally someone takes pity on mummy and joins the decorating team. Can you guess which kid that would be? If you guessed Miss Fab, you are right.

She sets to work tying ribbons and flowers on the backs of chairs, setting out dressups and face paint, vacuuming the lounge.

What a great helper. She is a party planner in the making, that one.

Big kids games...

Then it's time to make muffins. Gluten-free banana ones. Can they be dairy free too??
Why not, says mummy.
One of our special little guests can't have dairy. We like to make him feel included.
Let's try substituting milk for pineapple juice, cos we don't have any soy milk.
Will it work?
It does. The muffins are light and delicious. Gluten free and dairy-free.
We hang some bunting and blow up balloons.

The rain pours down, the wind howls.
It's a good day for an indoor party.
My guests arrive one by one.
Thanks for inviting us! they chorus.
You saved my life, says one.
You must be mad, says another.

Yes, quite mad. Crazy. Certifiable.
Soon the house is echoing to the sound of shrieks and light saber battles.
The big girls paint the little ones' faces.
The big boys have go-go battles and trade silly bands.

How many kids can you fit around a table? Apparently... 17.

When it's food time the kids can't believe their eyes.
A real party!
There's sweets and treats, with some grapes as a nod to healthiness.

While the younguns rampage, play and squabble over trucks the mums drink tea and talk about allergies. And childbirth. And Ladies Bits.

Our guests are leaving now.
"Thanks for lovely party!" they wave.
Oh look! the rain has stopped! The sun is out.
No matter.

A Rainy Day party was a good idea and worth the effort.
You should try it some time. If you're crazy enough.


Menu for a Crazy Rainy Day Party

• Use whatever's in your cupboard!
• Invite a few friends who are also stuck inside, bored. It's always more fun with friends.
• Pop some popcorn, cut up some fruit. Bake some muffins or cookies. Make fairy bread. Marshmallows, corn chips, carrot sticks... use what you have.
• For fun: play musical statues, hide'n'seek, musical cushions. Paint faces, dress up, hang out.
• Decorate cookies, cupcakes, glue stuff, make beads.
• Put on music and dance crazily.
• To decorate: keep a packet of balloons on hand. Make bunting out of old wrapping paper, string and staples. Or just borrow some from someone who has the real kind :)

Crazy Fruit Muffins: Gluten Free, Dairy Free

1 egg

1/4 cup of oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup pineapple juice

2 cups Gluten Free Baking Mix (Bakels is dairy free)

4 teaspoons Baking powder

1 cup mashed banana (approx 2 bananas)

Beat egg, oil, sugar and juice together. Add in mashed banana. Sift baking mix & baking powder and mix just enough to combine (don't overmix).

Spoon into cupcake papers inside muffin tins. Bake at 200oC for 15 minutes or until golden

Idea: Make up some dairy-free butter icing (using Olivani dairy free spread). Set out some decorations (sprinkles, sweets, cachous) and let the kids decorate their own muffin. We were not crazy enough to do this (though we had planned to) as we ended up with 17 kids!

Chocolate Crackle  (Gluten free, dairy free)

4 cups gluten free rice bubbles (or cornflakes)

250g of vegetable shortening (e.g. Kremelta or Copha)

1 cup of icing sugar

1 cup dessicated coconut

1/4 cup of cocoa

Melt the kremelta in the microwave then sift in icing sugar and cocoa. Stir in coconut and rice bubbles.

Place spoonsful in mini cupcake papers and put in the fridge to set. Allow approx half an hour setting time :)

xxx

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