St. Tammany News

Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty were sitting in white wicker chairs at the head of some diminutive tables set up in a horseshoe pattern. Cinderella tried to take a sip of her tea, but the tiny China cup was removed from her hands and placed back on the table. It wasn't quite time.

Scooby-doo, Spider Man, Buzz Lightyear, Sleeping Beauty, Belle and various other muscle men, athletes, rock stars and super heroes were then directed to raise and clink their own glasses in a toast. It was a rousing tribute.

The girls of honor eagerly joined them in enjoying the sweet libation. It was their third birthday party. They and about a dozen family and friends were celebrating the event at My Lil' Tea Party.

The party room was filled with magic. It radiated from the eyes of the children.

Owner Mary Lazaro opened the business in Mandeville about four years ago. From the outside it looks like a simple unit in a strip mall, although there is a full-sized tea set visible on a desk in the entryway.

Even the big interior room only hints at the possibilities. It holds child-sized chairs and tables, a music machine, a disco ball and a teacart. Colorful boas hang from pegs on one wall. Crepe paper dangles from the ceiling. A line of mirrors, placed near to the ground, awaits the transformation.

The magic happens when children are added to the scene. Each one gets to go into the colorfully crammed dressing room and pick a costume, a persona for the party. Little girls walk through the curtain and walk out the other side as princesses and wand-waving fairies. Little boys tumble in, then emerge energized, muscled and mighty.

"When they walk into that costume room for the first time their eyes get wide as saucers," said Lazaro. "They are amazed. It's like a fairy tale place for them to be in. They get so excited."

The girls are further beautified with a little makeup and nail polish. The boys each get to choose a temporary tattoo.

When the transformations are complete, each child is introduced individually in the opening fashion show or parade of characters. Some are shy. Others dance or flex and demonstrate their newfound skills.

The parties last for about two hours. Bright-eyed participants sing, dance, play and party. Young imaginations are allowed and encouraged free rein.

"It's organized fun, organized activity," said Lazaro. "The girls love to look at themselves in the mirrors. The boys want to run and to play with the microphones. It's really a lot of fun."

The tea parties are recommended for children ages 3-8. Glamour Girl parties are offered for the 8-11 age group.

Let there be no question that both girls and boys love the opportunity to dress up in costume and play with their peers. Power Rangers, basketball players and firemen sipped their tea just as enthusiastically as the dainty characters in the flowing dresses and heals.

For two magical hours, the room was filled with not children, but the denizens of storybooks, cartoons and videos. Then, one by one, the kids went back through the special room and came out again as themselves.

But although Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella were once again Elaine and Ella Maddox, they and their friends surely retained something of the experience, a trace of the characters they had chosen to be as they celebrated their very own little tea party.