I stood in the middle of my kitchen in Midtown Atlanta last March, surrounded by three rolls of industrial-strength aluminum foil and a very disappointed ten-year-old named Leo. It was March 14, 2025, and I had promised him a “Galactic Emperor” birthday bash that would put the local planetarium to shame. My brilliant plan involved…
My living room looked like a NASCAR infield exploded in a sea of black and white checkers last October. It was Leo’s fifth birthday. Seventeen five-year-olds in a suburban Portland house while it’s pouring rain outside is a specific kind of brave. Or maybe just crazy. I had exactly forty-two dollars left in the “party…
Last Tuesday was a total wash in Portland, with rain hitting my windows so hard I thought the glass might actually give up. My youngest, Zoey, was turning five and her only demand was a “muddy puddles” party, which is basically code for a Peppa Pig obsession that has taken over our entire house. I…
My kitchen smelled like blue raspberry syrup and failed expectations on the morning of June 12, 2024. I was hunched over a counter covered in sticky sapphire stains, trying to figure out how a single dad in Atlanta could throw a birthday bash that didn’t look like a discount bin exploded. My son Leo was…
Living in a two-bedroom walk-up in Logan Square with twins means my life is a permanent state of controlled chaos. Last April, specifically on Saturday the 12th, that chaos peaked when I realized my twins, Leo and Maya, expected a “wild jungle” for their 9th birthday. My bank account showed exactly $64 after paying the…
My vacuum cleaner still rattles from the Great Brain Massacre of October 2023. It was Sam’s 8th birthday, and living in suburban Portland means you can usually count on two things: relentless drizzle and a house full of muddy footprints. That year, Sam decided he was over superheroes and wanted “real scary zombies.” I thought…
@lucy_broo: Okay, real talk, fellow party planners and parent-teachers out there. How does Easter ALWAYS sneak up on me? I swear, one minute it’s Valentine’s Day crafts with my preschoolers here in Dallas, next it’s late March and I’m looking at my calendar like, “Oh, right! Easter is, like, tomorrow!” With Aurora (2), Leo (6),…
April 12, 2025, started with a frantic trip to the hardware store for duct tape because the Denver wind was determined to turn my backyard “Wild West” saloon into a heap of scrap wood. My son Leo was turning six, and he insisted on a theme involving horses, spurs, and “bad guys” he could arrest….
My niece Maya turned eight on a sweltering Saturday last April, and I somehow ended up in charge of the swag. Being the “cool aunt” with a hyperactive Goldendoodle named Luna means my Austin backyard is basically the neighborhood’s unofficial event center. I spent three weeks obsessed with finding the perfect moana party party favors…
I am currently knee-deep in crinkle paper and tiny plastic Triceratops, and if I see one more glittery sticker, I might just scream into my lukewarm coffee. Last Tuesday, my classroom in suburban Houston looked like a paleontologist’s worst nightmare because I decided to host a “Dino-Mite” end-of-unit bash for my twenty-two second graders. Between…
