You Say it's Your Birthday

I love birthday parties. That being said, birthday parties make me into an insane and difficult to live with person. But it's all because I LOVE birthday parties. I mean well. I really do.

This year, Daphne is having an ice-cream themed party. This was Kev's awesome idea when VERY early in the game I was all stressed about planning something for possibly 20 kids plus all of the adults in charge of them. "How about letting them all make their own sundaes?" suggested Kev.

EXCELLENT! Perfect! Daphne loves ice cream! I can make that happen! It will be a piece of cake. So to speak.

Now, in my imagination, this is going to be a fabulous party. If I can just do everything I want to do exactly like I want it done and the weather is perfect and nothing goes wrong and all these dang Virginia gnats disappear for the day.

HA!

So, I am now publicly vowing to take a deep breath, do the best I can, accept imperfections, go with the flow, and most importantly have a good time. And to stop being insane and difficult to live with. I am still going to attempt to achieve the party I see in my mind, but if I don't, the world will not end and Daphne certainly won't know the difference.

Here's the thing. Birthdays have gotten out of hand. Pony rides, petting zoos, I even know some people that had a CIRCUS in their back yard. For a kid who was turning ONE! Now, they have to top that every single year. Good grief.

A lot of kids now have birthday parties at a "place." Yesterday, we went to a birthday party at a bounce-house place. And it was GREAT. The kids had a blast, and the staff did every bit of the work. The mommy did not have to clean up the house before or after the party, or do any cooking or baking of any kind. The problem with parties at places is the price. It's EXPENSIVE to do that. Plus, it's just not my style.

I like homey, old school, and DIY. All my parties as a kid were a blast. Ice cream, cake, games. Running around the yard or my grandma's basement with my cousins. No pony rides. No expensive destinations. Just a bunch of little kids having fun. And that's what I want for Daphne. Simple. But with a theme and perhaps some crafty decorations.

Anyway, I'm off to a good start. As you can see above, I made the invitations and distributed them (all but one...will do that today), and my dad made a "Pin the Cherry on the Sundae" game. I went on line got very inexpensive special cups for the kids' sundaes, which they get to take home as a favor. I think I have the menu pretty much planned and the paper products are taken care of. I have a little bit more to do, but I think I'm in pretty good shape. So wish me luck. I'll let you know how things turn out after the big event.

Meanwhile, we've been having a really nice time with my grandma, who will be returning to Indiana in a couple days. I think she's having a good time too. I'm so glad she is getting to spend some time with Daphne. Today, they had some music time together. Daphne played her uke while my grandma taught her "The Old Family Toothbrush."

Then, after Daphne demonstrated the "Daphne Wiggle," my grandma treated us all to a demonstartion of the "Mam-ma Wiggle:"

I wish I had video of all this stuff. Good times.

Well, I should probably be doing something other than blogging while I have the free time. I think I shall organize my party supplies and make a plan for tomorrow. I only have two more days of Daphne being in school. It seems like school just started. How can it be over? Uh-oh...stress level rising...calm blue ocean clam blue ocean calm blue ocean...