Operation turning 2: stage 1

Ok so let’s get this straight. I am not going to hire a petting zoo for a two year old. Or an “entertainer”. Last year, my birthday entertainment was eight one dollar boxes of tissues. Go nuts, kids.

I am also anti merch. Anti getting branded ideas into kids heads. And anti screen time for kids.

But he really loves In The Night Garden.

I’m also a little wee bit anti here let me go and buy a whole lot of matching Chinese sweatshop party napkins/ plates/ cups and stuff and damage the environment in honour of your birthday, hey? I am not judgy if other people do it, it just feels so “nasty consumerism” to me. It isn’t the message I want to send jman.

But I kind of like birthday craft. I kind of like making things generally. Not in a “let’s measure this up and follow steps and be very methodical” way ( thanks mum), but a “why don’t we bung this together and see if it works?” Way.

Don’t get me wrong. I have no time. Less than none.

But sometimes, it’s hard when your kid hits a milestone. You can get fearful for what is being left behind. I can remember putting him in 000 clothes for far longer than he needed to be because 00’s somehow meant he wasn’t a baby.

And there’s something to be said for slow thoughtful party prep to get your head around the celebration, to make you feel like celebrating it.

So I’d like a night garden party. Our backyard is kind of night garden-esque. And he’s of a maturity level now, where he’d actually lose his shit in a good way, if I pulled it off, backyard as “night garden”. He’d actually appreciate it.

Now luckily for me and my funky moral standpoint, the night garden cheap nasty party merch appears to be out of stock everywhere and between ranges. And I’ll be buggered if I’m buying some silly toys just to dress up the party.

I haven’t made anything since my efforts for his first birthday.

So tonight I began…..the ninky nonk. It’s true, we are more your Pinky Ponk fans here, but I can whip up a pinky Ponk with a green balloon and 15 minutes. Your ninky nonk? That’s gonna take some work.

So here, my friends, is the tardis like carriage before and after. I apparently in my ambiguous moral set, am not above buying cheap Chinese shoes off the internet, and lucky for me the box just screamed ninky nonk. The roof is in draft form, and needs to be painted bright red, and I’ll probably cover it in clear Contact to stop j-man destroying it in the first 15 seconds. Everything is recycled apart from one pack of $2.99 A5 craft paper.

Hub-in- boots was very impressed.

P.s. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you have two options:1. Go to youtube and watch an episode of night garden, or 2. Find a small child, wait until 6:30 at night, sit them in front of an episode of In The Night Garden and watch their face. It would also be an excellent show to watch stoned, if you were that way inclined….