So, Alex's 9th birthday was this month. Time to plan a party!
I loved going to birthday parties when I was a kid. Especially sleepover birthday parties. I grew up out in the sticks, so sleepover parties were the norm. If your parents had to drive any kind of distance to get you to the party, they were more than happy not to repeat the drive again until the next day. And there was no Cosmic Adventures or Fun Haven either, oh no! Birthday parties were something that happened at your friend's house. Now, all my friends lived on farms, so there was a lot of running room, (and a lot of mischief to get into), and they lived in big, old farm houses, so there was plenty of space. There was no super strict activity schedule and "party hostesses"either, in fact, we barely even saw parents at all unless it was time to eat or open presents.
It was awesome!
The first time I took my son to a friends birthday party here in the city I was shocked. The party was at one of those huge, bright, insanely noisy play places. The parents paid $250 dollars for 10 kids to run around the play place like wild screaming banshees for and hour and a half, and then the whole lot of them were crammed into a, "party room", for half and hour to wolf down some sketchy pizza and rip open presents. When I picked up my son at the end of the two hours, the birthday boys parents looked one bite short of zombification. For that kind of money, shouldn't you be less stressed at the end?
So, for the last two years, we have gone back to basics for Alex's birthday parties. He invited seven of his best buds (plus himself and his brother) to our house, for a pizza/movie/video game/sleepover. Here is our MO;
- Party starts at 4:30pm. Kids can play inside or outside doing whatever they want.
- Whenever we damn well feel like it, we eat. This year we ordered pizza. Last year I made spaghetti. Kids aren't that hard to please. After that we eat cake. Yum!
- Next is the highlight of the party, the pinata. Oooooh, ahhhhhh! We love pinatas! This year it was a guitar pinata, in years past we have beaten the shit out of a burro, Optimus Prime, a soccer ball and Spongebob Squarepants. Each kid has a paper bag with their name on it and when that pinata busts open they rush in and fill their bags with candy. That is their "goody bag". Parents these days go waaaaaaaaay overboard with the goody bags! My kids have come home from birthday parties with goody bags that were worth more than the gift I bought! It is craaaaaazy! And really the only thing in it they want is the candy. So there you go. Each kid leaves my house with a big 'ol bag of candy. If there's any left by the morning that is. But more on the pinata later.
- Happily full children return to playing whatever they want until around whenever I feel like it, when we put on a movie of the birthday boys choosing. Kids who wanna watch, watch and anyone who doesn't can do whatever they want. (All of this is happening while I am sitting quietly, curled up with my cross stitch and a cup of tea).
- The kids all pass out around eleven pm. They sleep in the basement with their sleeping bags and pillows talking about boy stuff until they pass out. I am blissfully asleep two floors up in my soft, cozy bed. I don't hear a thing until I wake up the next morning. Usually the kids have been up since 4am playing video games. No skin off my nose.
- Then I make pancakes and ship a bunch of sleepy children with sugar hangovers back their parents. You're welcome!
Now here's the good part.
There was this one time, when maybe the beloved pinata didn't exactly work out as planned. That's right, our beloved pinata plans when amiss in a way that I swear could only happen to me.
Will's third birthday. For Will's third birthday we were going camping with a bunch of friends. It was June. The weather was lovely. So we decided to have his party at one of our campsites and everyone would come and it would be a family and friends party. His "theme" was Diego. Will loved Diego. So I bought and VERY carefully transported a beautifully decorated Diego Birthday Cake all the way to the campsite and, of course, we had a Diego pinata, stuffed full of candy for all the kids to enjoy.
Diego Pinata
OMG, were the kids ever excited. And so were the parents. I mean, what parent doesn't want to make their kid happy on his birthday.
So the big day came and we went over to our friends campsite and started setting up for the party. The table was laid, the cake was put out, the BBQ was fired up. Then the men-folk started to hang the pinata. The only place to really hang it from was one of the many trees that surrounded the site, so they grabbed a rope and got the job done. When I turned around and saw it, I almost died.
We had just strung a little brown boy up by his neck in a tree.
Dear. Sweet. Jesus.
I was so embarrassed. And it wasn't like has was going anywhere any time soon. The party hadn't even started and there was lots to do before pinata time. Every time someone walked past the campsite I cringed. What must they think of us? I tired to ignore him, but I couldn't. We chatted, barbecued and ate all while little Diego swung overhead. I could hear him in my head, "Ayúdame! Ayúdame!" Oh God!
Finally it was time to "do" the pinata. Great. Now we are gathered in a circle around poor Diego encouraging our small children to hit him with baseball bats and sticks. "Get him Will. Get him! Knock his head right off!!"
Well, turns out Diego was rather fond of his head. The kids smacked him around for a good half hour and no one could crack him open. Then the Dads got involved. Man after man tried to separate Diego from his head. I'm talking major league hitting here, but he stayed firmly in tact. Finally we pulled him down and torn him to pieces to get at the candy. It was awful. It was like the "Passion of the Pinata". I was waiting for a civil rights march to break out in the campground. It was mortifying!
So, take this away with you. Birthday parties can still be simple, fun, inexpensive affairs with minimal fuss and stress and never, ever, get a pinata in the shape of a person.
Michy
