You Don't Love Anything As Much As This Little Girl Loves CVS Pharmacy
Kids can certainly be quirky in their interests. Any good parent will roll with the punches on a day-to-day basis, but in the age of Pinterest, cool kiddie birthday parties can get competitive. That’s why it’s great that when her little girl said she wanted a CVS-themed birthday party, rather than convincing her otherwise, this mom totally went with it. And the joy on her daughter’s face shows it was worth it.
Sarah Fortune’s 4-year-old daughter Iris has a fixation with CVS. Fortune tells Buzzfeed that Iris comes upon her obsession honestly. “Ultimately she loves CVS because she knows it to be a dream-land of snacks, chocolate milks, and toys.” Right. My kids feel the same way about the gas station up the street. There’s Gatorade, gum and beef jerky. Dream-land, indeed. I’d like to think I’d be as cool as Fortune if my kids wanted a convenience store-themed birthday party, but probably not. However, if they made this face in front of the Sunoco, I might reconsider.
Iris clearly views CVS like other kids see Disney World, and it’s unbelievably adorable. When it came time to plan her recent birthday party, the child was adamant that CVS was the only theme that would do. Her mother was somewhat skeptical, but ultimately, gave in. As you might imagine, finding ideas for a pharmacy-themed party wasn’t easy. “Once I realized Iris was for real, I started to get creative with it as much as I could, which was tough because there literally was nothing to Google or search on Pinterest.” Good thing Fortune is incredibly imaginative. The photos from her Instagram show that she had no trouble organizing the party of Iris’ dreams.
The attention to detail is amazing, from Iris getting her very own CVS name-tag, to the simple cake with only the store’s iconic red lettering and white background. Fortune thought of everything and gave her daughter a party she found to be perfect, even if it’s not standard 4-year-old fare. In keeping with the theme, she made “CVS punch” for the adults, aka, Cranberry Vodka Splash, and all decor was red and white. The favors were CVS-brand band-aids and chapstick for the kids (which, let’s face it, are absolute gold to little ones anyway) and candy in pretend pill containers for the grown-ups. It might not be the norm for a pre-school girl, but as Fortune says on her blog, “One day it won’t be so simple to make her happy, so for now I take her to CVS when we have a few extra minutes to spare and try my best to make her birthday party special, as tricky as it may be.”
It can be a lot of fun for parents to plan Pinterest-worthy birthday parties for their kids but at the end of the day, the party is for the kid. Sometimes, certain themes may be more palatable for an adult and obviously, a lot easier to find decorations and ideas for, but the party should be about honoring a child’s unique personality. Seeing what Fortune did to commemorate a quirky thing that her daughter likes is inspiring to me as a parent. These funny phases of childhood only last so long and we would do well to remember that and celebrate the silly rather than fight it.
