I stood in my Denver living room surrounded by empty Amazon boxes, regretting every life choice that led me to voluntarily host thirteen toddlers. Two-year-olds are basically tiny, drunken pirates anyway. They steal your snacks. They mumble incoherently. Occasionally, they try to bite you. So for my son Leo’s second birthday on March 2nd, a…
The silver spray paint was still wet on my cuticles when the first minivan pulled into our driveway in Beaverton last November. I had spent the previous three hours hunched over in the garage, trying to turn twelve refrigerator boxes from the local appliance store into a fleet of interstellar vessels for Sophie’s sixth birthday….
My daughter Maya stood in the middle of our Atlanta living room on April 12, 2024, screaming because her left wing was drooping like a wet noodle. She was turning four, and I had decided, in my infinite single-dad wisdom, that I could pull off the most magical woodland event our neighborhood had ever seen….
Houston humidity and a room full of twenty-one two-year-olds do not mix. Last February, I decided to turn my classroom into Arendelle for our winter social, thinking it would be a peaceful, icy retreat. I was wrong. By noon, the “frozen” cupcakes were sweating, and a little boy named Caleb had tried to eat a…
My kitchen smelled like burnt hot dogs and stale gasoline on March 12, 2023, after I spent $412 on a professional track rental that rained out in twenty minutes. I stood there in my damp Atlanta Falcons jersey, looking at my son Leo, who was turning five and crying because the “lightning fast” cars were…
My kitchen floor currently looks like a literal disaster zone, but in the best way possible. There are orange plastic shards everywhere, a lingering smell of chocolate pudding, and one very tired Golden Retriever named Cooper snoring in the corner. Last Saturday, March 15th, I hosted my nephew Leo’s 6th birthday party here in Austin….
My living room looked like a police dog and a fire pup had a very stylish baby, and honestly, I wasn’t mad about it. Last April, specifically on Saturday the 12th, I found myself standing in the middle of a DIY disaster zone in my Austin bungalow. My son, Leo, was turning twelve. He’s at…
Easter Games for All Ages? Help a Grandma Out! @nadinedoesparties: Hello, GINYOU Party People! Nadine here from St. Louis, MO – you know, by the Arch! Easter is creeping up fast, and I’m already feeling the pressure. My five grandkids (Noah is 3, Stella is 5, Chloe is 6, Beckett is 7, and Alice is…
Max’s tenth birthday was supposed to be a quiet afternoon in our muddy Portland backyard last October 12, but instead, it became a legend of soggy hay and a very confused goat named Barnaby. My house smelled like damp straw for three weeks after those twelve 10-year-olds descended upon us, but you know what? It…
My kitchen floor was a literal sea of pink crepe paper and half-eaten carrot sticks last April 12th when my twins, Leo and Mia, turned seven. If you have ever tried to wrangle twenty-one screaming second-graders in a small Chicago apartment during a sudden rainstorm, you know the true meaning of “muddy puddles.” I had…
