Maya’s 7th birthday was a rainy Saturday in Portland last month, March 14, and I honestly thought I had everything under control until the buttercream started weeping. I was standing in my kitchen in Beaverton, surrounded by three caffeinated kids and a dog that had just eaten a pink ribbon, trying to figure out why…
Last October, my living room smelled like damp hay and pure adrenaline because my youngest son, Leo, was turning three. I thought I could handle eighteen toddlers in a suburban Houston backyard. I was wrong about the hay—it triggered my neighbor’s allergies within twenty minutes—but I was exactly right about the theme. Finding a farm…
My golden retriever Barnaby tried to eat a papier-mâché Stegosaurus on a random Tuesday. That was my very first warning that throwing a prehistoric party for eighteen five-year-olds in my Austin backyard was going to be pure, unadulterated chaos. I had exactly three weeks to pull off my son Leo’s fifth birthday. I wanted it…
Houston humidity usually ruins my hair by 9:00 AM, but on April 12, 2024, I had bigger problems than frizz. I was standing in my backyard with twenty-two toddlers, a failing bubble machine, and a tight wallet, trying to pull off a budget carnival party for 2 year old twins. My nephew Leo and his…
My kitchen floor currently looks like a unicorn exploded on it, and honestly, I am not even mad about it. It is Tuesday night, I have three kids—Leo is 4, Sophie is 7, and Maya is 11—and I just spent three hours trying to calculate exactly how much surface area we need to cover for…
Toddler Easter Egg Hunts: Keeping it Fun & Not, You Know, a Choking Hazard? @violet_partymom: Hey everyone! Violet here, from Boise. So, Easter is just around the corner, and I’m already mentally preparing for the chaos of the egg hunt with Finn (6) and Luna (9). But what’s really on my mind this year is…
Hey everyone, Matthew Anderson here from Pittsburgh. Hope you all are doing well! Easter is just around the corner, and honestly, it’s starting to stress me out a bit. With four kids (Miles is 3, Leo’s 5, Chloe’s 7, and Alice is 8), trying to make Easter morning special without breaking the bank feels like…
My living room in Austin looked like a rainbow exploded, and frankly, I was here for it. It was March 14, 2026, and my nephew Leo was turning one, but the real challenge was entertaining the “Noise Squad”—a group of eight ten-year-old cousins who were tasked with leading the musical parade. I spent weeks hunting…
Hey everyone, Carmen Martinez here from Raleigh, NC! My goodness, where does the time go? It feels like just yesterday we were putting away Christmas decorations, and now Easter is practically knocking on the door. With Ivy (2), Isla (3), Kai (5), and Miles (8) running around, life is always a beautiful kind of chaos,…
Chloe stared at me like I had grown a second head when I suggested a backyard camping trip for her fourteenth birthday. Apparently, sleeping in the dirt is “out,” and sophisticated sipping is “in.” Living in Denver means we usually lean toward hiking boots and granola, but my daughter had discovered the “coquette aesthetic” on…
