I’m not huge on kids’ birthday parties – even my own kids’.  Actually, that’s not true.  I love the birthday parties Em goes to because now I get to drop her off!  Today though, I’m not the dropper but the droppee.

BUT – I must admit I’m a little excited about her party today.  Ever since we saw This is It, Em has been fanatical about Michael Jackson.  (Ah, the innocence of knowing him only through his musical genius and not the Wacko Jacko years).  So she wanted a Michael Jackson party.  Amazingly, there’s a place right in our town called Dog House Music that does rock n roll birthday parties.  They’ll give all the kids a rock star makeover while they snack and do the Moonwalk to Billie Jean and Thriller.  They get to listen to a teenage band play live for them, then get on stage and sing and air guitar (on plastic guitars) to Smooth Criminal.  Em has her fedora hat and white glove all ready to go.

So it should be fun.  Who knew I’d be reliving my own adolescent/teenage MJ fanaticism through my daughter?  Somehow we two managed to sit on the opposite cusps of Michael’s bad times – me at the front and her at the back – so who cares about all that bad stuff?  Let’s Dance!  Let’s Shout!  Shake Your Body Down To the Ground!

Here was one of her practice runs from right after we saw the movie.