Birthday time!

Every year I say I'm not gonna do it, yet here I am again. The gears start turning once school lets out, and once the seed is planted, the planning extravaganza begins...yes, folks, it is time to celebrate the kiddo's birthday.

This year he turns 7, and I had been trying for a couple of months to convince him that we should do something really special and take a friend or 2 to an amusement park. Nah. Then we received an invitation from a lovely little girl in his class who was having a regular old traditional party (which I LOVE!!) and asked for donations for a local charity in lieu of gifts. When I mentioned this possibility, my typically empathetic to a fault child nearly crumbled at the thought of not receiving any gifts...but, alas, I suppose that is part of the magic at this age, so the typical birthday extravaganza is underway for mid-August. 

After last year, I swore NEVER AGAIN would I do such a party. It was a smashing success and was at our local YMCA, but we had to provide and set everything up. I ended up spending WAY more time and money than I needed to. I paid attention to details that nobody probably even noticed. But, we had an inflatable slide and a gym full of Mario Bros themed activities followed by cake in a room with about a gazillion helium balloons and carefully decorated cake table. Our cake baked by a dear friend was absolutely perfect, and a good time was had by all. But at the end of the day, I just dropped from the stress of preparation and baking dozens of yellow-frosted star cookies that the dear child said did not look like stars?!?!?

This year, I am taking the show to a bounce place that does not allow you to bring in anything from the outside. No balloons, decorations, snacks...everything you may want you have to purchase through them. Because they charge outrageous prices for things like balloons and themed decor, I went pretty minimal and will pay a flat rate per child. The only thing I am doing myself is the goody bags, which they do allow you to bring, and my dear friend will again provide the cake (Pokemon this year.) All we have to do is show up, party and leave. The only thing I overdid this year was probably the guest list. At over 20 children, I am hoping for either 15 or 20 (makes sense the way the pricing tier works.) With it being summer time and vacations, etc, I expect there will be people who will decline. But, the more the merrier, right?? Birthday #7, here we come!! (Next year will be smaller for sure...HA!!)

Summer

I used to hate the summer. I am not someone who enjoys the heat, and the lack of structure that seems to come with the season kind of stresses me out. But, these past few years, I have come to love it. Mostly, because I have returned to college with a rigorous curriculum and the summer is my only down-time.

However, having a kid home from school for the summer is exhausting!!! I work nights, so he goes to day camp the days after I work so that I can sleep. And I am only part-time, so I am home and awake most days with him home with me. I plan activities such as the pool, movies, bowling, day trips to the beach, playdates, parks, baking, crafts...he has been to baseball games, the circus....this child is busy most of the time. Not to mention the activities he has planned for him when he does go to camp.

So why do I get greeted each morning with 'what are we going to do today??' When I was a kid, we spent our summer days home, played with kids in the neighborhood and saw an occasional movie. We might go to the lake a few times, and always went on a week-long beach trip. But, the little day-to-day activities my kid gets didn't exist. We made ourselves busy. While I am sure I proclaimed my fair share and then some of boredom, I did not come to expect to have an action-packed schedule planned out for me day after day...

Perhaps this is where I have gone wrong. Well, today we are 'not doing anything.' He is currently playing with cars on a race track and surviving just fine. I am sure we will hit some bumps along the way, but it is what it is.

How do you keep your kids 'busy' in the summer??