The Last Emperor...

...the Little Emperor!

Lucas turned 8 on January 16^th.

Lucas is NOT the emperor, FYI

On Sunday, January 9^th (2 days after returning from Thailand), I had a mini-nervous breakdown regarding his party (with a wand-making theme) and the invitations I never sent.

A January birthday is difficult to plan no matter what the country. In December, Christmas eats all your time! Schools are then closed early in the new year, making it nearly impossible to get out invitations in a timely manner. The problem is compounded here in Beijing where children go back to the international school only 6 days before Lucas’s Big Day.

In an invitation frenzy, I stripped Lucas down, threw him on the wood floor with his Thai henna tattoo, handed him his cool wand and and did some funky photo editing. I had driver Duan Shifu dash me to the one-hour Kodak (“Keh-Dah” in Mandarin) and voila, invites were prepared.

The stress, however, had only just begun.

I quickly learned that many Asians do not RSVP. H0w do you plan a party without responses?! By Friday, I had 8 Westerns “yeses” and no Asian answers. On the day of the party, we had 15 attendees! One of the attendees is blog worthy!

Background Info

In China, a common topic of conversation among Westerners is the “Little Emperor Syndrome.” Due to the fact that for many years the Chinese could only have one child per family and families chose to have boys, this is a country of—you guessed it—Little Emperors, a.k.a. Spoiled Brats.

The stress begins:

Little Emperor Fat Boy, “I’m hungry!”

Stressed Kimbeijingerly, “Did you have cake?”

Fat Boy, “No. I don’t wait in line.”

Little Emperor Fat Boy during wand making session, “I’m bored! There’s nothing to do.”

Stressed Kimberijingerly, “Did you make a wand?”

Fat Boy, “No. I don’t wait in line.”

Super Dad demonstrating wand-making procedure

Little Emperor Fat Boy during the Pin-the-Wand-on-the-Wizard game, ““I’m bored! There’s nothing to do.”

Stressed Kimberijingerly, “Did you pin a wand on the wizard?”

Fat Boy, “No. I don’t wait in line.”

Cute girls pinning the wand on the wizard

L.E. Fat Boy, bored and stuck between the wall and staircase banister, “Help me! I cannot get out. I’m stuck! Help me now.”

Stressed Kimberijingerly, “You jammed your body in there. You can get it out yourself.”

L.E.F.B., “I’m bored.”

Stressed Kimbeijingerly, “Only boring people are bored.”

L.E.F.B., “I’m bored. I’m calling my driver to come pick me up.”

Stressed Kimberijingerly, “Do you need to borrow my phone? The address is 1226 Dragon Bay.”

And then I am tempted to add, “Write that address down and never come back.”

But then I realize that Fat Boy did give Lucas his favorite birthday present—a super-expensive, luxury toy that I would never have purchased. It was a gift for a king.

Or a Little Emperor!

With Love,

Kimbeijingerly

P.S. The birthday saga is not yet complete. Watch for additional blog installments!