Q & A about birthday parties

[eimarra]

Q: Birthday parties? That doesn’t seem very writing oriented!

A: It’s not. I said so yesterday. My son’s birthday is coming up, and we’re having a party for him for the second time ever.

Q: Really? And you think that’s worth a blog post?

A: Works for me.

Q: So — cake and ice cream? Maybe some pizza? Anything special?

A: Probably pizza. Lots of water for the kids to drink because it’s hot out. My son’s drawn a picture (with elevations!) of what he wants the cake to look like, and I’m going to make blueberry cheesecake ice cream this evening. The one thing I haven’t decided is what I’m serving the ice cream in.

Q: Um . . . bowls?

A: Yes, of course, but I’m debating between chocolate chip cookie bowls (bake the dough on the reverse side of a muffin tin) and chocolate bowls (using balloons as a mold).

Q: What sort of activities do you have planned?

A: Keeping it simple: a Slip ‘N’ Slide, some water balloons. Maybe a movie inside if there’s a storm (unlikely).

Q: Is that too little? Are they going to enjoy it?

A: I don’t know, but I’ve only so much energy to go around.

Q: One last question — you’re having the party at your house. Are you crazy?

A: Well, yeah. I’m a writer, aren’t I?

Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[doc-lemming.livejournal.com]

I can't remember how old your son is (but he's drawing...) but maybe you can second someone into having them do a trasure hunt elsewhere. While you get your stuff ready.

I remember for one of my son's birthday parties we did a pirate theme at our house, and part of it involved me taking them to the nearby schoolyard for (a) a treasure hunt[1] and (b) some piratical activities (normal athletic stuff dressed up as pirate things).

And I remember paper boats folded and floated in the hot tub. We had a flotilla, right up until someone pressed the button to turn on the jets.... Terrible storm; sank half the fleet (but we got them out before I had to replace the filter).

1 I do not remember goodie bags from my childhood, but that's how they were distributed here: the kids got to keep One Of Each, though trading was allowed after all was found. They had maps; I had prepared them beforehand.

[eimarra]

My son's going to be 11 -- going into middle school next month. (Already! Where does the time go?)

The treasure hunt sounds like a fun idea. We might have to try that. Thanks!

[doc-lemming.livejournal.com]

Not so far apart, then: my son's going to be 13 at the end of next month.

And I'll be (shudder) 51 by then. When I remember what I was doing when he came along, and what I'm doing now...and what he's doing now...yes. Where does the time go?

[eimarra]

The problem is he's at that age where the little kid parties don't quite work, but he's not quite to the teen "We'll just play video games and have some cake and ice cream" stage.

I'm not hitting 50 yet, but it's a lot closer than it used to be. Time really has flown. And then we've got my daughter (only 4-1/2) coming along behind . . .