My golden retriever, Barnaby, still has a tiny metallic green Stegosaurus stuck to his left ear from the party we hosted three weeks ago. It was a humid Saturday in Austin, specifically October 12, 2025, and I had decided that my nephew Leo’s 7th birthday needed to be the “Greatest Show on Earth” but with…
Maya stood in our tiny Logan Square kitchen on April 12, 2025, clutching a single pink crayon like it was a royal scepter. My daughter wanted the full Cinderella experience for her sixth birthday, but my bank account was screaming “stay at home and watch Disney Plus.” I had exactly sixty-four dollars to make this…
Leo’s seventh birthday party last August was nearly a literal wash-out because of a sudden Portland “sprinkle” that turned into a full-blown downpour within ten minutes of the first guest arriving. My backyard looked like a crime scene where the primary victims were three dozen rolls of black and white crepe paper that I’d painstakingly…
Springtime in Austin usually means two things: cedar fever and the absolute necessity of a backyard gathering before the Texas sun turns us all into human raisins. Last Tuesday, April 14th, my nephew Leo hit the big 2.0. Nineteen toddlers descended upon my East Austin bungalow, and if you have ever stood in the middle…
Easter Egg Hunt Chaos! How Do You Guys Keep it Fun for Everyone? @deepa.flores: Hey everyone! It’s Deepa from Jacksonville, FL. Easter is just around the corner, and I’m already feeling the pressure. Every year I try to make our egg hunt magical for my crew – Sofia (3), Liam (7), Miles (8), and Meera…
The humidity in Houston on October 22, 2024, was thick enough to melt a glue stick, but my fourth-period class didn’t care because the “Owl-oween” bash was finally here. I spent my planning period frantically blowing up owl balloons while praying the principal wouldn’t walk in to find me surrounded by a flock of inflatable…
My living room in Inman Park looked like the trash compactor scene from A New Hope after my son Leo’s eighth birthday on March 12, 2024. I stood there, knee-deep in shredded wrapping paper and half-eaten pizza crusts, holding a soggy, collapsed paper cup that featured a very sad-looking Yoda. That was the moment I…
Austin humidity is no joke when you are trying to keep a buttercream cake from sliding into a sugary puddle of despair on a 98-degree afternoon. Last August, I found myself standing in my kitchen, sweating through my favorite linen romper, frantically trying to balance a flimsy cardboard cat on top of a three-tier monstrosity…
Houston humidity in April feels like wearing a damp wool sweater while standing inside a dishwasher, but that didn’t stop me from promising my fifth graders a “Secret Garden” gala last Tuesday. I teach 18 energetic eleven-year-olds who have spent the last six months staring at whiteboards and standardized tests. They deserved some dirt, some…
Twenty-two first graders screaming “kiai” in a humid Houston dojo is a specific kind of sensory overload that only a teacher or a very brave parent can handle. Last March, specifically on Saturday the 12th, I found myself standing in the middle of a sea of white gi’s, holding a stack of extra napkins and…
