Remind Me

If ever again I get the idea in my fool head to throw some elaborate themed birthday party complete with favor bags, specially designed invitations, and games or attire that require craftiness on my part, please remind me of all the late nights, hot glue, and neon green paint I have been dealing with this week.

In our world, a birthday party usually translates to inviting over the grandparents, ordering pizza, and eating cake.  End of story.  My kind of birthday party is a no muss, no fuss event so this Superhero Bash I'm throwing for my two older boys has put me into a bit of a tailspin.

We decided to go a bit more "all out" for this particular occasion simply because we kind of glossed over Micah's 3rd birthday due to the move to our new home and we thought it would be nice to combine his and his brother's birthday into one big party after we had settled in so family could see the new house.  Well, I'll be darned if my almost 5 year old didn't go off and make a bunch of new friends in our neighborhood and his his classroom, so our typical small time affair just wasn't going to cut it.

Which is how I found myself making 20 superhero capes, spending hours on Photoshop Elements creating labels for hot dogs and assembling bingo cards, and painting Kryptonite rocks.

It's a lot of work, yo.  I honestly can't imagine throwing a party of this....ummmm...magnitude for every single birthday for every single kid.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it so I definitely applaud all the parents out there who can pull that off with some semblance of their sanity intact.

As for me, I'm just continuing to remind myself that my kids aren't really going to care if I get all the dusting done.  They aren't even going to notice if I forget to hang the streamers or make superhero labels for the water bottles.  In fact, I'm going to make a concentrated effort to keep my cool better than I usually do at parties I host.  Despite the fact that there will be at least 13 young kids running around, I'm going to say a prayer in the morning that the Lord will stay close by me so I can control what comes out of my mouth and keep my anxiety and controlling nature in check.  What really matters is that my kids have fun and feel special.

We still have unpacked boxes in our bedroom.  There's barely anything hung on the walls.  We've only painted the laundry room.  The basement is a disorganized disaster.  All these things make me feel insecure about our home and cause me to worry about people judging me when they see it.  I guess I worry they'll be thinking things like, "Geez, they've lived here for more than two months now.  What the heck has she been doing this whole time?"

But my kids won't be thinking that.

They'll be blazing around the yard wearing Batman and Superman capes with suckers in their mouths.  They will be shoving cake in their faces as quickly as possible.  They will be hunting for Kryptonite to save Superman from certain death.  They will be ripping open wrapping paper with reckless abandon and blowing out birthday candles.  If I too can focus on these things, perhaps the stress of the party will fade and only the fun will remain.

And then, when the last guest has gone home and my superheroes are fast asleep, I will have a HUGE glass of wine and probably another piece of cake while I remind myself to never do this again.

(But let's face it.  I probably will.)

Can't wait to share all the party details with you!