Sunday, December 14, 2008

To Party or Not to Party...


This is really a question at our house.

This year Xander turns 7. And he really wanted a birthday party with his friends. I attempted to dissuade him from the party... or maybe it could be a party but that each friend would bring a gift which we would donate to a needy family or orphanage, or that he could invite one or two friends to go golfing or something.

So after many, many, many conversations... Xander convinced us that he could have a friends party, and that he would plan it.

His first iteration was a list of twenty some-odd friends (pretty good for a homeschooler)... and some amazing (and very expensive) activities... race car driving, bowling, golfing, soccer game, basketball game, egg relay race, pie eating contest, treasure hunt... and a few more I am sure I have forgotten...

When reality struck (after a conversation with me, mom) we paired the list down to 13 kids and some low-budget indoor & outdoor games.

When the day of the party arrived (the morning after the ward Christmas dinner party we were in charge of, where we fed 230 people, without any help except one person on our committee, ... it was basically like catering a huge party, except we didn't get paid... kind of like working at Dream Dinners... Wait a minute... It was just like working at Dream Dinners... we never get paid... at least at the ward party we get reimbursed... Okay back to Xander's Party), all 13 came bounding in with the energy of 13 tornadoes in the small space of our first floor. (Of course the day was 40 degrees and windy, so any hope of outdoor activities was crushed.)

Stan, Grandma Smith and I, entertained these wound up kids with several party games like Balloon Popping Challenge, Simon Says, Whip Cream Eating Contest, Snowman Making Contest, Snow Fights, and a Rock'n Dance Off! What a day!

The only consolation of the morning was that Anna was entertained by Grandpa Smith over breakfast at Uncle Chris's house.

When we asked Xander about the success of his party, compared to several of his friends' recent parties he said, "I think they had fun because there was a lot of screaming & yelling, which they don't do at other people's houses."

Why can't I have a quite party like that?

1 comment:

Amy said...

Amy, I'm still in awe that you guys did this. You are amazing. What a lot of energy you have. If I could just have half of the energy you have...
I love your sense of humor and the way you write. All these posts had me cracking up. Keep it coming!