That was two years ago. Max’s 6th birthday. Twelve kids, standard setup — balloon arch, cone hats, the usual. Emma, my neighbor’s daughter, started crying about 20 minutes in and couldn’t stop. Her mom pulled her into the bathroom. She missed the cake. She missed the games. She was in there for 45 minutes. Her…
I asked twelve moms in my neighborhood one question last fall: “What actually ruined a birthday party for your kid?” I was expecting answers about bad weather or a no-show clown. What I got was a very specific list. And almost all of them mentioned the same five things. This is not a fun list…
Three years ago I booked a reservation at a nice restaurant for Mother’s Day brunch. Me, my husband, both our moms, three kids aged 2, 4, and 6. The wait was 90 minutes even with a reservation. My youngest cried through the appetizers. My mother-in-law spent most of the meal walking the parking lot with…
# Bulk Hats for a School Parade: How I Managed 32 First-Graders (and a $14 Budget) If you’ve ever tried to get thirty-two six-year-olds to walk in a straight line for more than ten feet, you know it’s less of a “parade” and more of a “slow-motion riot.” Last Thursday was our school’s annual Spring…
I didn’t sleep well on Tuesday night. If you’ve ever been an elementary school teacher, you know that “Awards Day” is basically the Super Bowl, but with more sticky fingers and much higher stakes. My classroom—Room 2B—is home to 28 of the most energetic second-graders in the state. I love them. Truly. But 28 kids…
I learned this the hard way: classroom celebrations don’t fall apart because the kids are wild. They fall apart because setup gets messy. I’m talking about that moment when you’ve got 30 kids staring at you, cupcakes are melting, and you’re still digging through a plastic bag for the hats. So here’s my simple, repeatable…
My middle kid turned 4 in January and decided — three weeks before his birthday — that he needed a dinosaur party. Not just dinosaur plates. A full dinosaur experience. His exact words: “I want a T-Rex to come to my house.” Cool. So that’s what I was working with. I’ve thrown a lot of…
