Austin in June is basically living inside a giant, humid hairdryer. Last summer, specifically on Saturday, June 15, 2025, I found myself standing in the middle of Tumble Tots on South Congress, clutching a stack of napkins and watching thirteen two-year-olds vibrate with pure, unadulterated chaos. My niece, Chloe, was turning two, and my sister…
My kitchen table is currently buried under a mountain of orange cardstock, three half-eaten granola bars, and a suspiciously sticky tub of yellow slime that my four-year-old, Mia, insists is “liquid gold for the diggers.” We are knee-deep in planning my oldest son Leo’s 12th birthday, and if there is one thing I have learned…
Twenty-two sticky hands. That is my daily reality in room 204. I throw at least six classroom parties every single school year here in Houston, and by May, my patience is thinner than single-ply school toilet paper. The Texas humidity is already making the kids absolutely feral. Last spring, I had to organize a builder-themed…
Glitter is the devil’s dust, and I ban it from my classroom. Last spring, on March 14, 2023, I stood on a wobbly plastic chair in Room 204 staring at a blank bulletin board, sweating through my favorite floral cardigan. Houston humidity is unforgiving. The school’s air conditioning was barely humming, and I had exactly…
The Texas sun was already punishing my backyard by 10 AM on May 14th. I stood there, sweat dripping down my neck, desperately taping synthetic green moss to a plastic folding table. My rescue terrier mix, Barnaby, sat by my feet quietly chewing on a decorative foam toadstool. I was officially in the trenches. My…
March 14th, 2022. Houston humidity was already hitting 85%. I had seventeen 10-year-olds staring at me, practically vibrating with the chaotic energy that only blue vanilla frosting can create. As a 4th and 5th-grade teacher who throws at least six classroom parties a year, I thought I had everything under control. I was wrong. I…
I am scraping dried pink vanilla frosting off my dining room ceiling as I type this. Maya just turned seven on October 14th. Against all my better judgment as a mother of three very loud children, I agreed to her specific birthday request. Finding decent peppa pig party ideas for 7 year old girls that…
I stared at the wall of cardboard and elastic bands on October 14th, sweating through my favorite Braves t-shirt. The fluorescent lights of the party store were giving me a headache. My son Leo was turning 10. He wanted Peter Parker. He wanted Miles Morales. I just wanted to survive the weekend without emptying my…
Rain poured sideways against the living room window on February 12th, completely mocking my original plan for a backyard birthday bash. My oldest daughter, Mia, was turning eleven. She demanded a full-blown Malibu dreamhouse aesthetic. In Portland. In the dead of winter. The panic set in. I desperately needed indoor barbie party ideas, fast, and…
Thirty-four years of teaching in the Houston Independent School District has taught me two things: children are unpredictable, and a good balloon can hide a multitude of classroom sins. Last March, specifically on Friday the 14th right before Spring Break, I found myself staring at a pack of farm balloons for adults that I had…
