My kitchen table in Midtown Atlanta looked like a pixilated crime scene last Saturday night. I was surrounded by 22 neon green paper bags, three rolls of black duct tape, and a bowl of chocolate rocks that I’m pretty sure I’d already eaten half of. My son, Leo, was turning five, but we were also…
Twenty-two toddlers in one room is a recipe for disaster. I know because I live it every single day in my classroom here in Houston, where the humidity is 90% and the energy levels are 110%. Last April, my neighbor Sarah came to me in a total panic because she wanted to throw a budget…
My living room looked like a Category 5 hurricane hit a Home Depot. It was April 12th, the rain was pounding against our windows in Lake Oswego, and I had thirteen four-year-olds arriving in exactly twenty minutes for Leo’s big day. I’d spent exactly $47. People think you need a massive rental or a professional…
Austin in March is a total toss-up. One minute you are sipping an iced lavender latte in 75-degree sunshine, and the next, a cedar pollen storm hits that makes everyone look like they have been crying for a week. Last March 12, 2024, I was standing in my backyard with thirteen screaming five-year-olds, clutching a…
Last April, my kitchen looked like a kraken had exploded in a glitter factory. It was April 12, 2025, and my oldest, Sam, was turning ten. Ten is a big deal in our house. It’s the double-digit milestone. He wanted a pirate theme, but not a “baby pirate” theme. He wanted “scary, but with pizza.”…
I stood in the middle of my kitchen in Atlanta on March 12, 2025, staring at a single twenty-dollar bill and some crumpled fives, wondering how I was going to pull this off. My daughter, Maya, was turning 11. She wanted a royal bash for 18 kids. Being a single dad means I’ve had my…
Austin in March is usually a gamble between glorious spring sunshine and a soul-crushing pollen apocalypse, but for Leo’s 12th birthday last month, I decided to lean into the wildness. Finding diy safari party ideas that don’t look like a toddler’s nursery is a massive challenge when you are dealing with pre-teens who think everything…
@zoey_partymom: Hey party peeps! So, I’m trying to pull together a surprise 40th for my bestie, Chloe. She’s super low-key, but her husband, bless his heart, told *everyone* it’s happening, so now it’s like… a thing. You know how it is in San Jose – everyone expects something Insta-worthy, even for a casual backyard BBQ….
My carpet is currently 40% pink glitter and 60% hope. Last Tuesday, I found a tiny plastic high heel in the butter dish, which is just life lately as a mom of three in the rainy suburbs of Portland. When Maya turned seven last March, she didn’t just want a party; she wanted a full-blown…
My kitchen counter currently looks like a glitter bomb exploded in a car wash, and honestly, that is just a typical Tuesday in my house. Between chasing my four-year-old, Silas, away from the scissors and trying to help my eleven-year-old, Maya, understand that she cannot invite forty people to a pool party, I am drowning…
