I stood in my Atlanta kitchen on March 12, 2023, surrounded by soggy cardboard and enough purple glitter to be seen from the International Space Station. My daughter Maya was turning seven, and I had decided, in my infinite single-dad wisdom, to build a four-foot-tall “Casita” out of refrigerator boxes. I spent $80 on “specialty”…
Pink crepe paper is currently stuck to my ceiling fan, and I have no regrets about the sticky residue. My daughter Chloe turned eight on April 5, 2025, and her only demand was a celebration that felt like a marshmallow exploded inside a Sanrio store. Finding the best streamers for hello kitty party decorations turned…
The morning of April 4th in Chicago started with a blast of icy wind that rattled my kitchen windows, but inside, I was elbow-deep in blue frosting and streamers for Leo and Maya’s 4th birthday. Twins mean double the chaos and, usually, double the cost, but I’ve made it my mission to keep our celebrations…
Austin in August feels like living inside a blow dryer, but that didn’t stop me from trying to host the most iconic Malibu Barbie birthday bash for my daughter, Chloe, on August 14, 2025. We had the pink pool floats, the flamingo straws, and enough glitter to be seen from the International Space Station. Chloe…
Thirteen eight-year-olds screaming “Rawr” in a humid Austin backyard is a specific kind of sensory overload that only a dog mom with a caffeine addiction and a love for themes can truly appreciate. Last April 11th, I found myself standing in the middle of my patchy lawn, clutching a lukewarm iced coffee, and realized I…
The floor of my Houston classroom usually smells like a mix of cherry-scented disinfectant and lost hopes, but last October 12th, my living room smelled exclusively of damp chocolate frosting and Peppa Pig stickers. I was exhausted. Eight five-year-olds had just stampeded through my house for my niece Lily’s birthday, leaving behind a trail of…
The wind off Lake Michigan was howling like a hungry wolf on March 14, 2025, but inside our cramped bungalow, 16 eight-year-olds were vibrating with enough sugar energy to power the entire North Side. It was Maya and Leo’s eighth birthday, and I had promised them a “Secret Garden” theme that felt like spring, even…
Twenty-two second graders in a room built for eighteen is a recipe for a stampede. Last February, specifically on the morning of February 20, 2024, I learned that my sanity during the annual Go Texan Day celebration depended entirely on a single six-foot-wide piece of vinyl. I spent $55 of my own money on what…
My kitchen table on April 5, 2025, looked like a robot war zone. Between the sticky remnants of orange juice and the stray Lego pieces, I was drowning in a sea of red and yellow paper. My twins, Leo and Sam, were turning six, and their only demand was a “big robot party” on my…
The wind was howling off Lake Michigan on Leo and Maya’s eighth birthday, but my living room felt like a locker room at halftime. Nine sweaty, screaming third-graders were currently vibrating with the kind of energy only “Chicago-style” pizza and a backyard basketball hoop can provide. I had exactly $50 for this entire bash, and…
