I was a guest along the ride for my daughter’s fantasy tea party

Today we decided to throw a tea party after school. Well, my daughter, Stella, decided to throw a tea party, actually. She wanted to plan the events, the food and the décor. I was all for it! Except… things became a little inside out and upside down. This truly turned into a Fantasy Tea Party, and I was a guest along for the ride!

Since I usually plan our parties and our fun, my daughter was eager to step into my shoes and become the decision maker. She put on my kitchen apron and started pulling out the dishes! I guess a tea party should have an Alice in Wonderland inspired stopwatch, right? She zipped up to her room and pulled this golden stopwatch out of her jewelry box. I gave it to her last year and it still ticks (a little bit).

Notice the waffle cone cups? More on that in a moment.

With the proper tea cups and plates set, Stella was ready to present the food. Well, the treats. She was all about putting out the sweets. Regular marshmallows weren’t enough. She had to bring out the extra special pink ones! Plus, we had to stack them. It’s not necessarily something I would do, but I have to admit, stacked marshmallows and towering pitchers filled with colorful straws was pretty cute!

Remember those waffle cones that Stella had a plan for? Here it goes:

Normal tea is sipped out of fancy little glass teacups. Her upside down plans included cups that were more fun. Edible perhaps… but I didn’t see that part coming!. All I knew is that she had regular tea cups for me stacked up with waffle cone cups for her and her brother. I have to say, it was looking pretty fun!

Of course her tea party included Fairy Bread. It’s Stella’s favorite, and we’ve been making it together for years. You simply cut the edges off of slices of bread, smear on some butter (or cream cheese), and then sprinkle on some rainbow fun!

OK, so these cookies were my son’s idea. While he’s not necessarily a fan of funky Fairy Bread, he is, however, a fan of any chocolate chip cookie in sight! Oh, and Twinkies… my son loves Twinkies! I was a bit hesitant to allow Stella to bring out all these sweets, but it was her Fantasy Tea Party, and I was just along for the ride. I have to admit, Twinkies bring me back to wonderful childhood memories of my own. I remember eating those fun cakes as a preschooler myself! Who am I to judge him? He’s got fun taste!

Stella invited her little critter friends to her tea party. “The Mad Hatter invited animals to his party!” she said. Naturally, she set out some teeny tiny tea pots and silverware for them too. I love that the guests at her Fantasy Tea Party were animals!

The entertainment at Stella’s unique party included bubble gum. “Bubble gum?” I said to her. I put it out on an olive tray because, hey, she was taking charge! She was having a great time pretending to be me and planning her little party.

Next up, manicures! Oh yay! I thought to myself. Tea and painting nails — that sounded fun! I eagerly agreed to paint her nails at the party. She brought out several different color choices, and naturally, I thought she was doing that for me. Oops! Her plans were a bit different…

The selection of beautiful nail colors weren’t for my convenience. When I asked her to pick a color that she wanted me to paint on her nails, she said, “All of them!”

What? Oh yeah… we went there. And now all of her nails are all different colors! Her teeny tiny ring fingers have a cool Disney-inspired gray, sparkly color called “What Time Isn’t It?”

OPI has a fun new line of nail colors celebrating the movie, Alice Through the Looking Glass, which premiers on May 27.

Onto tea. Er — sort of.

I happily boiled my own water and poured it into my fancy little teacup. Stella, however, requested milk with foam. In a waffle cone cup.

Foam is made by fluffing up whole milk in a fancy milk frother. It was her version of milk foam tea, and it was probably pretty tasty. Especially since she put sprinkles on top!

Watching her enjoy pretending to be an adult throwing a fancy tea party in my white apron was so cute! I have to admit, drinking frothy milk out of a waffle cone cup was kind of a fun idea! Why hadn’t I thought of that? But then something else happened…

After quickly sipping up her yummy foam milk, she started eating her cup!

So that’s why she didn’t want to use a regular teacup. In Alice in Wonderland, she remembered the Mad Hatter’s tea party where the goofy characters giggled as they occasionally chomped on teacups. As I giggled with the enjoyment of watching her nibble on her teacup, I jokingly said, “What’s the matter with you?”

“It’s what the Mad Hatter does! What’s the hatter with you, Momma!”

She had me! I couldn’t help but laugh and watch both my kids eat their teacups. What an upside down imagination she has when she pretends to be in my shoes.