My friend Megan called me on a Wednesday night in April, half-panicking. Her daughter Olivia had just announced—with the confidence only a nearly-five-year-old can pull off—that she wanted a “garden party like in the movie.” Megan had no idea which movie. Neither did I. Didn’t matter. Olivia wanted flowers, butterflies, and “fancy hats like the…
My neighbor Kristen knocked on my door last October holding a crumpled Pinterest printout and looking like she hadn’t slept. Her son Carter was turning 5 in three weeks. He’d been wearing the same dollar store cowboy hat to bed every night since August and told everyone at preschool his birthday was going to be…
Maya drew butterflies on everything. Her spelling tests, her math worksheets, the corners of her reading log. When her mom Diane emailed me in February asking if I had any party ideas for Maya’s 6th birthday—”she wants butterflies, obviously”—I laughed because I’d been watching this kid chase cabbage whites at recess since September. I’ve been…
Last October my friend Rachel texted me at 11 PM on a Tuesday. “Zoe wants a spa party. I don’t know what that means. Help.” Zoe was turning 9. Rachel had exactly 18 days and—her words—zero Pinterest energy left after planning a unicorn party the year before that nearly broke her. I told her I’d…
My student Gracie turned 8 on a Tuesday in February. Her mom, Denise, came to me two weeks before and said, “She wants an art party. At school. Can we do something?” I have been teaching second grade for 14 years. I have thrown approximately 230 classroom birthday celebrations. Most of them involve cupcakes and…
My middle kid Owen turned 5 in January, and somewhere around November he announced—loudly, at dinner—that he wanted a “science party.” Not a space party. Not a dinosaur party. A science party. He’d been watching Ryan’s World do baking soda volcanoes and decided that was his entire personality now. I run an Etsy shop selling…
My son Elliot turned 6 last September, and he wanted one thing: to sleep outside. Not at a campground. Not in a cabin. In our backyard, in a tent, with all his friends. I said sure before I thought it through. Then I spent the next three weeks figuring out how to make a backyard…
My daughter Nora turned 8 in January, and she had one request: a sleepover. Not a regular birthday party with cake and games and everyone goes home by 4 PM. A real sleepover. With sleeping bags on the living room floor, flashlight tag in the backyard at 9 PM, and pancakes in the morning. I…
Last September, my best friend Courtney called me on a Tuesday night — panicking. Her son Weston had just turned down the trampoline park idea for his 6th birthday and announced he wanted a pirate party. “With a real treasure hunt, Mom.” The party was 11 days out. I told her I’d help. I always…
Last July, my friend Danielle called me in a panic. Her daughter Lily wanted a pool birthday party — not a backyard sprinkler thing, a real pool party with all Lily’s second-grade friends. Danielle had never done a pool party before. Neither had I, honestly. But I’d just spent the previous two summers throwing increasingly…
