Girliest Party Ever

This is the last of the Kara Birthday posts, I swear. But I just had to write about her awesome party with her friends. I am not entirely sure why it happened, but I became quite invested in this party being super cool, and somewhere in the planning process, I went completely overboard. I have two theories as to why this happened. 1. The thought of eight little girls who are bored or unhappy at my kid's party inspires serious levels of anxiety. (Imagine the more terrifying play date of all time.) 2. Whatever ambivalence I may have about being a stay at home mom, I am certain that I want to be the mom who gives her kids great birthday parties. It is like showing off your mommy muscles to plan and execute an elaborate two hour play date.

Reflecting on the party, I can say without reservation that it rocked.

The first key to our success was that I hired my niece, Alex, and her friend, Sierra, to come an be my party helpers. Their primary job was to play games with the girls and supervise the free play in our yard. They were amazing. Negotiating Middle East peace has nothing on getting eight little girls to play the same game at the same time. Alex and Sierra were firm and in control, but also kind and warm and funny. Not to get too deep, but in addition to helping me out, they were wonderful examples of how to be a teenage girl who is smart without being a smart ass, cool without being snotty, funny without being sarcastic.

Negotiating

Can't you just tell that Alex is the sweetest teenager ever?

Big girls and little girls playing tag

The second key to our success was the Oriental Trading Company. If you are planning a kid party of any kind, you must visit this site. It is a veritable treasure trove of party favors. I bought a ton of craft supplies: ceramic watering cans to decorate, stickers, make your own pinwheels, hibiscus hair clips, nylon butterflies and dragonflies to color, markers, more stickers - and the girls just crafted it up for over an hour. They were so quiet and focused it was kind of creepy. Made me wonder if those stickers had some magical tranquilizing power.

I may have gone a little nuts, but the party was awesome. I heard more than one girl actually say, "Kara, your party is so cool" which resulted in an inappropriately huge ego boost for me. I have issues, I know. But the best part was that Kara was just brimming over with joy the whole day. Even after complete present overload, she was a peach.