My living room smelled like blue raspberry frosting and damp grass on April 12th, 2025. Fourteen six-year-olds were screaming the lyrics to a song about a carnivorous fish while jumping in a bouncy house that smelled slightly of old socks in the 88-degree Austin heat. This was Maya’s big day. My niece had decided that…
My kitchen island is currently buried under a mountain of orange plastic tracks, and if I step on one more tiny die-cast car, I might actually lose my mind. It is April 14th here in soggy Portland, and we just finished cleaning up from my middle son Leo’s 7th birthday bash. I learned the hard…
I am currently scraping dried green frosting off my favorite sensible flats. This is the absolute reality of teaching third grade in Houston during the chaotic fall birthday season. Last Tuesday, October 14th, I decided to host a reptile-themed celebration for my 19 eight-year-olds. The centerpiece was supposed to be a massive, floating arch made…
My living room floor currently looks like a neon-colored crime scene, and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It was just last Tuesday, March 12, 2024, when I found myself knee-deep in crinkled Mylar and those annoying-but-addicting plastic hand clappers for my sister-in-law Sarah’s 30th birthday bash. I have three kids—Leo is 4,…
My kitchen floor still feels slightly tacky three months later. It is a permanent reminder of the Great Sundae Meltdown of August 14, 2025. Chicago summers do not play. 95 degrees. High humidity. 15 four-year-olds screaming for sugar. I had exactly $75 in my “fun fund” to make it happen for my twins, Leo and…
Maya stood in the middle of our humid Atlanta kitchen last August, staring at me like I’d just suggested we move to a cabin with no Wi-Fi. She was turning fifteen, and the pressure was mounting. My previous attempts at party planning were legendary in our house, mostly for the wrong reasons. Being a single…
My son Leo turned six on May 12, 2025, and I found myself standing in the middle of our Denver kitchen surrounded by three different brands of paper goods. I am that dad. I check the GSM (grams per square meter) of paper plates. I read the fine print on dye toxicity. When we decided…
The sun was absolutely beating down on Zilker Park last April 14th when I realized my niece’s birthday cake was starting to look more like a puddle of pink lava than a royal masterpiece. Maya was turning 10. She had 16 friends coming. That is 17 pre-teens in total, all expecting a “vibe,” and my…
My Easter Egg Hunt Saga: When Color-Coding Goes Wrong Hey everyone, Gabriel here from Raleigh, NC. Coach and dad, 5 kids on my team – Leo (2), Jude (3), Theo (4), Liam (9), Ellie (10). You can imagine the chaos Easter brings to our house. My wife, Aurora, she’s amazing, always wants to go all…
The humidity in East Austin on October 12, 2025, was thick enough to melt the spirit of even the most seasoned party planner, but my nephew Leo was turning eight, and he had his heart set on a “Scurvy Dog” shipwreck theme. I spent three weeks obsessing over the details, mostly because I refuse to…
