I never thought my Saturday morning would involve frantically typing roblox noise makers for adults into my phone while 17 five-year-olds dismantled my living room couch. My youngest, Sam, was turning five. We decided to host a joint birthday party with his best buddy from preschool. The theme was heavily requested, block-based, and entirely chaotic….
The chlorine smell was thick on July 14th, 2023. That was the day I realized cheap paper plates are essentially colorful tissue paper waiting to ruin your life. Eighteen screaming five-year-olds had just hit my community pool in Alpharetta, Georgia. I was sweating through my favorite Braves t-shirt, trying to be the fun dad. My…
My living room looked like a strawberry milkshake exploded, and I was standing in the middle of it with a roll of paper towels and a look of pure defeat. It was March 12, 2024, the day of my daughter Maya’s 6th birthday, and I had already made my first major tactical error by assuming…
The floor of my Atlanta apartment was covered in three different shades of blue streamers and my hands were stained a permanent shade of “Ocean Teal” because I foolishly thought DIY frosting was a good idea. My daughter, Maya, was turning one on July 14, 2025, and I decided that her first big milestone needed…
Hey GINYOU fam! Oh my goodness, can we just talk about party backdrops for a second? Specifically, a construction backdrop? My head is still spinning from Miles’s (he just turned 6!) birthday last weekend. With five kids—Arjun (1), Ezra (3), Miles (6), Stella (8), and Piper (10)—you’d think I’d be a pro at this by…
I sat on my kitchen floor in Atlanta last March, surrounded by three hundred tiny paper wings and a hot glue gun that felt like a weapon of mass destruction. It was 2:14 AM on Friday, March 14, 2025. My daughter Maya was turning eleven the next day, and I had promised her a “grown-up…
The morning of March 14, 2025, started with three espresso shots and a terrifying realization: I had eighteen eleven-year-olds descending on my Austin backyard in four hours, and I still hadn’t figured out how to throw a escape room party for teen guests without spending my entire mortgage payment. My son, Leo, is obsessed with…
My kitchen floor in Chicago was covered in a sticky film of lukewarm Earl Grey tea and crumpled brown packing paper last March. I had exactly three hours before eighteen kindergartners would descend upon my bungalow, and I was trying to make “ancient” treasure maps. My twins, Leo and Maya, were already “practicing” their pirate…
My kitchen currently looks like a glitter bomb went off in a blue paint factory, and honestly, I blame Bandit Heeler for my high expectations. Last Tuesday, while I was scrubbing “Bluey Juice” out of my beige carpet for the third time, I realized that picking the right bluey birthday cups is basically the most…
Austin in March is usually a dream, but on the 14th of last year, it was a humid mess that threatened to wilt every streamer I hung for my nephew Leo’s 4th birthday. My house was a disaster zone of primary colors and discarded tape. I am a dog mom who treats party planning like…
