The last crumbs of cake have been swept up; the last of the balloons have popped; the new gifts have finally all made it upstairs to bedrooms. A trip to Build-A-Bear, a gift from a beloved aunt and uncle, has been completed, and 3 new animals added to the collection (Abel decided he wasn’t a “stuffed-animals-wearing clothes kind of guy”, so he got 2 animals instead and was very happy).
The party was definitely loud. By 2, our not-that-big house was overflowing with screaming children, and there was already a fierce competition started over which side, girls or boys, had more people present. My friend Sarita had agreed to play La Diamant Rouge, international jewel thief, and she showed up all in black, with crimson lips and nails, a beret, and black-and-white spotted glasses (frames only). I was wearing all black myself; swishy linen pants, burgundy lipstick, high heels. I completed my outfit with a “diamond necklace” (glittering rhinestones) which drew envious stares from the mothers dropping off their children. Actually the stares were more incredulous, prompting me to murmur, “Mild-mannered suburban mother? Or…international jewel thief?” Surprisingly, no one seemed to want to stay.
Donn and his friend Ed, who was dropping off his two kids, hung out making coffee. I was tempted to bag the whole theme and just drink coffee and let the children run screaming through the house until they left, but Sarita had gotten all dressed up and didn’t actually want to stay longer than she had to, so I slapped a sticker on the back of each child with a famous movie character. The idea was that they could only ask YES and NO questions of each other to figure out who they were, and the broader idea was that they’d all get to know each other a little bit, since these children represent various parts of our lives and many don’t know each other. One little brat went around telling people who they were, rolling his eyes at the game, but others got into it (especially the girls, who were NICE). While they were occupied, I ran upstairs and hid my necklace and left a fingerprint…in blood? Or lipstick?…on the little partition that divides off my grandly-named “Laundry Room” (actually a tiny corner that only fits the two machines). Then, as the game was winding down and most people had figured out who they were, I suddenly clutched at my neck and shrieked in my best movie-star manner.
“IT”S GONE!! MY NECKLACE!! IT”S GONE!! AUUUGGGHHH!”
The children clustered around me, wide-eyed. “It’s not funny,” I told them. “It’s gone! Help me look for it!” They believed me for a minute. I found a fingerprint or two, and they all trooped behind me up the stairs, at which point the penny dropped. “You’re a good actress,” one or two of them told me.
Thence commenced the hunt, following clues. In retrospect (I HATE hindsight! I really do!), I can think of many ways I could have made it cooler. The clues led one to another, when really they should have pointed to a person. But give me a break–I wrote them all the night before when Abel’s cake was in the oven.
The clues led upstairs and down, then up again; the goal being to wear them out. But there were a couple of mishaps. For one, we had 14 screaming children rushing up and down, and our house is actually not very big; I can stand in Ilsa’s room and touch her bed with one hand and her dresser with the other. Once a clue had been figured out, everyone would rush together and we had some pretty serious bottlenecks in the hallway. People couldn’t get close enough to see the clue and get to figure it out, and I think they got frustrated or bored; at least a couple of girls drifted downstairs to sit it out on the couch. Matters weren’t helped by the Case of the Disappearing Clues, which occurred when Elliot decided to see if he could solve the mystery himself, found a clue and thought it was trash, and threw it away. Yeah. I was a little annoyed. It was a corner of one of Ilsa’s schoolbooks (which of course led to the box in the kitchen where the schoolbooks are kept), a scrap that said “CNED: Ilsa, CM2.” I had hidden it under her glitter lamp. But when a search revealed nothing, the kids turned her room upside down, emptying out her jar of glitter, which made for a fun game of vacuuming later. I had to TELL them the clue.
Finally, a scrap of an Australian map fluttering on the car’s windshield led to Abel’s koala bear puppet, with the necklace tucked up inside him.
But who had hidden it? There was a greasy, smudgy lipstick fingerprint on the largest stone, but still. They all began to check each other’s fingerprints. Then Sarita grabbed the necklace and took off towards the door at full speed. They tacked her, which I felt a little bad about…I didn’t realize they would take her down! She was a very good sport about it though, even making a second run for it, then flinging the necklace into the bushes and leaping into her car!
Then we had cake and ice-cream, etc, then I made them all go play outside, which I think was the best part of the day. They came in again for presents, and then parents came and almost everyone left. The few that remained watched the new Pink Panther movie, the one with Steve Martin in it, and ate pizza and Welsh cakes. It took me two days to recover, but I’m getting old.
In conclusion, I think the idea wasn’t too old for them, but there were certainly ways I could have made it go better, more smoothly, and involved them a little more.
Too bad I’m never giving another birthday party ever.
19 comments
March 7, 2008 at 2:23 am
Linda
It sounds like a great party. I bet the children loved it. Too bad about your friend getting tackled. It mad me exhausted just reading about it. I’m too old for such things as well. Even casual baby sitting wears me out.
March 7, 2008 at 6:03 am
cce
Wow, now that was a well planned party. There are always things that one wishes they could do over (hell, who doesn’t wish they could pick their wedding dress again), but if everyone left tired and sated and your kids felt properly celebrated, then it was a job well done.
March 7, 2008 at 6:17 am
suburbancorrespondent
Well, you can come try the idea at my house. No way I would have been creative (or energetic) enough to come up with all that.
March 7, 2008 at 9:24 am
Shalee
It sounds as if it were a time to remember and for your kids, that’s the best gift they could receive from you.
I’m totally using this idea someday. My 8 yo never had his b-day party which should have been last November. Yeah, I’m so out of the MOTY race…
March 7, 2008 at 9:27 am
Jolyn
Oh my goodness. You are much braver than I. Did you videotape any of this? So you have something to show your kids when they ask you why they can’t do something like that again.
March 7, 2008 at 10:42 am
Debbie
Made me tired just reading it…glad it was you and not me! I would’ve needed four days for recovery – and something stronger than coffee!
Just curious – is this the Sarita of “Jared’s Bagel’s” fame? Please pass my greetings to her if it is.
March 7, 2008 at 11:38 am
Kelly @ Love Well
AWESOME party. We need pictures.
March 7, 2008 at 3:20 pm
suz
YOU are a GREAT MOM and party planner..you made wonderful memorys..
Happy Birthday to the twins,sorry this is so late..
March 8, 2008 at 12:18 am
meredith
That sounds like a lot of fun. You’ve earned the right to “retire” from birthday parties.
March 8, 2008 at 1:07 am
Stephanie
Sounds like a clever birthday party. I am still relieved that my oldest is turning 4 this year and hasn’t figured out the whole “invite friends” to parties bit. We’re all about family parties, and thankfully I don’t have to entertain them 🙂
March 8, 2008 at 12:16 pm
nan
“Never Again”, huh? We’ll remind you next time. Your friend got off easy, though! My husband, dressed like a dragon, sprang out at a bunch of little boys all armed with flimsy plastic swords at one similar party. Alas, one of the kids had a hefty wooden sword and whacked the poor dragon about the head with it several times before anyone realised what was happening! Poor dragon.
March 8, 2008 at 3:44 pm
LIB
Beth – you are SUCH A GOOD MOM!
I agree with Kelly – WE NEED PICTURES!
Nan – that is TOO FUNNY about your poor, long-suffering hubby. Will he ever play a part for you again?
March 8, 2008 at 8:30 pm
jean
You are so cool. I wish I had the imagination (and the stamina) to have this kind of party . It sounds like it went really well and your friend was wonderful to help out. (Is she still speaking with you?)
March 9, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Rebecca
Yes, that is always my conclusion at the end of every single birthday party, too.
For future reference, it’s always a good idea to have an activity to do every couple of clues – like beading a necklace, or quickly putting on a suit of men’s clothes or something doofy like that. And junior smartasses can SOMETIMES be convinced to behave better by a) having a large adult man stand menacingly behind them for a while or b) giving them a position of some responsibility. Or just call their parents and send the little jerk home.
Of course, I am never, ever throwing a party again, so all of my wisdom is just WASTED.
March 9, 2008 at 3:57 pm
allrileyedup
What a fun party! It sounds like the kids version of the adult mystery dinner party.
March 9, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Pieces
Oh it sounds fantastic! And I can see why it took you a couple of days to recover. Exhausting.
March 10, 2008 at 9:35 am
gretchen from lifenut
The mental picture of your friend being tackled is hysterical. I’m sorry if she got hurt, but it sounds like a fun party.
You shouldn’t write off parties so quickly.
March 11, 2008 at 1:48 pm
W
Hmmm. Sounds fun. Even though WE WEREN’T INVITED. I suppose this had better make up for the whole “forgotten wedding invite” thing and we can start fresh.
You really are the coolest mom.
March 11, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Wacky Mommy
That was me, I’m going to start going by “W” now.