Ava’s 6th birthday | Tangled party

A while ago we took the girls to the cinema to see the movie ‘Tangled’. They loved the film & the music. I have often heard Ava in bed at night singing the tunes from the movie.

In brief summary of the film: Rapunzel is born with healing power in her hair. An evil woman steals the baby for the magic power. Rapunzel is trapped in a tower by the women posing as her mother, who tells Rapunzel not to dream of going beyond the tower because the world is too scary out there. Each year on her birthday, Rapunzel looks out & sees masses of floating lanterns released into the night sky. On her 18th birthday she escapes the tower, following her dream to find the floating lights. She eventually finds them & discovers it has been her real parents who have sent out the lanterns each year on her birthday. She finds true love with Flynn Rider who loves her even after her magic hair has been cut off.

Recently we were thinking of ways to celebrate Ava’s 6th birthday. We usually choose a theme that represents something about her age and stage at the time. At first when she suggested Rapunzel/Tangled, I didn’t think a Disney character represented much about her at this age. However, then I thought about my memories of Ava singing songs from the film. I looked at Ava’s long hair which has never been cut (other than me trimming a cm off the ends). I decided Rapunzel may actually be quite relevant.

I thought of all the times strangers have said to her “Look at your hair” or “look at your curls” or “Isn’t your hair lovely”. Each person who makes a comment is being nothing but kind, complimenting her. I love her long curls too. However over time she has heard these comments a lot and as a parent I have wondered what the impact might be from her hearing many remarks about her hair, rather than about her as a whole person. I want her to know that although her hair is lovely, her hair is not what makes her beautiful… and beautiful is not the only thing a person is.

The thing is, what if someone was told all their life that one part of them was particularly beautiful, and then they lost that part? Would they still know they were beautiful? If they woke up one day without that part of them, would they know their worth hadn’t changed? So we had a ‘Tangled party’, because in the end, Rapunzel goes after her dream and she is sure of her beauty & worth even when her golden hair is gone. These are two things I wish for any girl and for Ava on her 6th birthday.

Details:
Invitations by Beca K at Paper Tinker on etsy
Colours: Purples & yellow (from the colours used during the lantern festival)
Green (representing the forrest & Rapunzels pet Pascal the chameleon)
Floating laterns hand made from tracing paper
Jelly boats (inspired by scene where Rapunzel & Flynn sail our to watch the floating lights).. sails printed from here
Rapunzel kingdom sun banner printed from here
Flynn Rider wanted poster
Magic golden flower
Tiara shaped bread with sprinkles
Long plaited yellow wool

and if you need a little more inspiration…