It's My Party and I'll Plan What I Want To
When he was little, he would begin dreaming of his birthday party, several months ahead. Every day he asked me how many days it was until the celebration. Finally I told him that I would not discuss his birthday until the 1st of March. So he never said a word for the rest of February. On February 28, he was asked to say grace. "Thank you God this day. Thank you for this year. And thank you God, that it is almost March the 1st."
Over the years, we have had many types of celebrations. I remember planning hot dog roasts, making bingo games, and a laser tag expedition, or two. But this birthday was different. He was going to be responsible to plan it all. For several weeks we had discussions about what types of activities he would have, who would come, how long they would stay, and what kind of food we would serve.. I set up an on-line 'sign up', but in the end, he got it all done on another social network.
The kids arrived at one. The last of them left at nine. It went great. He had enough activities planned to keep them occupied. I made enough food to feed them for another day, if they had decided to stay that long.
Of course, it wouldn't have happened without some outside help. Nana came and helped get everyone to and from the pool. Auntie came with a bienenstich (which didn't last as long as I'd hoped!) for everyone to share.
After swimming, they all cut out stencils. Then it was time to eat. I called it a "Pasta Bar" just to make it sound impressive. I prepared four buckets of pasta, and picked up twelve baskets full afterwards.
Then they all trooped outside and spray painted the plywood his Dad had donated for the cause. They went onto spray painting t-shirts, shoes. They even tried spray painting the sheep.
After that, they gathered in the living room and watched a movie.
At that point, his Dad and I disappeared and left them to the junk food and teenage conversation. By the sounds of it, a good time was had by all. I was proud of him. He dun good. And now, he can start counting down the days until the first of March next year.
Over the years, we have had many types of celebrations. I remember planning hot dog roasts, making bingo games, and a laser tag expedition, or two. But this birthday was different. He was going to be responsible to plan it all. For several weeks we had discussions about what types of activities he would have, who would come, how long they would stay, and what kind of food we would serve.. I set up an on-line 'sign up', but in the end, he got it all done on another social network.
The kids arrived at one. The last of them left at nine. It went great. He had enough activities planned to keep them occupied. I made enough food to feed them for another day, if they had decided to stay that long.
Of course, it wouldn't have happened without some outside help. Nana came and helped get everyone to and from the pool. Auntie came with a bienenstich (which didn't last as long as I'd hoped!) for everyone to share.
After swimming, they all cut out stencils. Then it was time to eat. I called it a "Pasta Bar" just to make it sound impressive. I prepared four buckets of pasta, and picked up twelve baskets full afterwards.
Then they all trooped outside and spray painted the plywood his Dad had donated for the cause. They went onto spray painting t-shirts, shoes. They even tried spray painting the sheep.
After that, they gathered in the living room and watched a movie.
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