My kitchen table looked like a primary-colored crime scene last Tuesday night at 11:43 PM. Leo and Maya, my five-year-old twins, were finally asleep, but I was knee-deep in cardstock and a lukewarm cup of Jewel-Osco coffee. I had this vision of everyone—grown-ups included—sporting custom lego party hats for adults that didn’t look like cheap…
The silver glitter is still embedded in my floorboards from the 2024 “Moon Mission” party I threw for my second graders. It mocks me every time the Houston sun hits the kitchen tile. My husband says it adds character, but I say it’s a permanent reminder that seven-year-olds have more energy than a nuclear reactor….
My living room smelled like a chaotic mixture of store-bought vanilla frosting and industrial-grade rubber on the morning of April 12, 2024. Leo was turning six, and as a single dad in the suburbs of Atlanta, I had somehow convinced myself that I could pull off a professional-looking barnyard bash for nine energetic kids. I…
Pink tulle currently covers every square inch of my Portland living room floor, and I am fairly certain I inhaled at least three grams of iridescent glitter while prepping for Sophie’s seventh birthday bash. My youngest, Leo, who is four and definitely more interested in dragons than tiaras, just tried to eat a stray rhinestone….
My backyard in Denver looked like a pink tornado hit a porcelain factory last March 12. 18 ten-year-olds descended upon our patio for my daughter Chloe’s birthday, and the wind whipping off the Front Range was nothing compared to the sound of those girls. I am a dad who reads the fine print on toy…
Chloe stood in the kitchen with flour on her nose, screaming “We don’t talk about Bruno” at the top of her lungs while I tried to figure out how to pull off a budget encanto party for 5 year old without selling a kidney. We’ve all been there, right? You want the magic of the…
My kitchen island looked like a glittery blue shipwreck last March 14th. I had exactly three hours before my niece Maya turned seven, and fourteen rowdy kids were about to descend on my Austin backyard for her “Mermaid and Friends” bash. I was knee-deep in iridescent streamers and trying to figure out why I thought…
My classroom floor usually looks like a confetti cannon exploded inside a vat of Elmer’s glue. After twenty-two years teaching third grade in the humid heart of Houston, I have developed a sixth sense for impending spills. When my niece Maya begged for a tropical birthday bash last April, I knew my primary defense strategy…
Peppa Pig Party Confetti – Worth the Mess?? Asking for a friend (my 1-year-old lol) @the_real_xiomara: Hey party people! So, my little Milo is turning ONE next month, and Hazel (my 9-year-old foster daughter, who basically runs this house) has decided it HAS to be a Peppa Pig party. Honestly, I’m just happy she’s so…
My living room looked like a yellow and black crime scene last March when Leo turned nine. There were scraps of construction paper everywhere, half-eaten nuggets on the coffee table, and I was on my third cup of lukewarm Stumptown coffee trying to figure out the math. I had 22 nine-year-olds descending on our house…
