This past weekend, 2 weeks before the actual day, we celebrated Mr. Grady turning 8 years old. For the first time in those 8 years, we had his friends party at our house.
When James and the boys left for shinny on Sunday afternoon, I took on the task of decorating the house.
Lesson #1: Buy a helium tank and fill our own balloons.
I went to dollar store and bought the giant 8 and the 10 green and black balloons for pick up the next day. It cost almost $50. How was I too know it was so expensive, when you host a party elsewhere balloons aren't allowed for the most part.
Lesson #2: Don't waste your money decorating at all.
I was so excited to hear the garage door open and to see Grady rush inside and see all the decorations for the first time. Instead, Cooper came in crying and Grady didn't notice at all. Only James commented on the my hard work.
Lesson #3: Do not decorate outdoors.
Grady seemed to be most impressed with the giant poster that we hung on the garage door. What you can't see from this picture is that it is actually 4 different pieces that were a pain in the @ss to put up when the wind was blowing like crazy. While Grady did like it, it also alerted the neighbor kids that there was a party happening and 2 of them knocked on our door looking for cake. Oy.
Lesson 4: Do not allocate more than 10 minutes for the kids to eat.
This year his birthday, Grady wanted an xbox party. I promptly assured him that I was not hosting 15 of his closest friends in my living room. I googled it and found Gamers Fun Truck which hosts the party outside your house in a self contained trailer where the kids can play video games for 2 hours straight. Sold! The only catch was that I could only get it from 5-7. So... we decided to feed the kids pizza before the party and started it at 4, they would go in the truck at 5, and at 7 they would emerge for cake and leave at 7:30. If you did the math there, that is 3.5 hours that I committed to being responsible for 15 boys. Fifteen.
What I found out is that it takes 15 boys approximately 10 minutes to eat, not 60. What did they do for the remaining 50 minutes you ask? They ran around the house, turned my basement into a dodge ball court, and were all around loud and rowdy.
Notice that the balloons are kind of blurry, that is because 8 year old boys use them as weapons. Definitely no balloon next year. Or ever again.
Lesson 5: Keep the door and windows shut to keep excitement low.
Then the gaming truck arrived and started setting up. The boys noticed and some of them started forming a line at the door waiting get out to the truck. Imagine the excitement when the dude started walking to the door. The kids broke out in screaming. Not yelling, screaming. James asked them if they were a bunch of girls and said they couldn't go out if they didn't stop. I made my way through the crowd to speak with the barely 20 year old young guy where he asked me if it was too late to change his mind. He asked if we wanted to break them into group. NO, please take them all.
Lesson 6: Plan an activity that the group is interested in.
The boys followed the young dude into the truck and we didn't see them again for 2 hours. 2 hours. They stayed in that truck and played videos games the entire time. That is something girls just don't do.
This is the inside of the truck. A big long bench just the perfect size for 15 little bums. And James'.
Some of the kids, like Cooper, where very expressive and yelled and cheered.
Others, like Grady, zoned right out and payed hard core vids the entire time. You would not believe how hard I tried to get a picture of Grady smiling. Just to prove he was in fact having a good time.
For interest sake, here is the other side of the truck. 4 TVs, 4 consoles, 16 paddles.
Lesson 7: Move the party outside if it gets to rowdy.
After the 2 hours were up, the young dude brought the kids back to the house where we promptly guided them outside. No more indoor dodge ball for this house! As they were filtering though I heard one of the boys say that it was the best party ever. All the smiles told me that the kids had a great time.
Lesson 8: Take your photos before the party.
It is a good thing that I took pictures of Grady with the cake and with the giant 8 that he at first thought was 2 donuts. For real.
In years past we've taken a family photo with the cake. This year it was too wild that the thought crossed my mind for only a second before I quickly decided it wasn't worth the hassle. There was no way I was making my way through this crowd to get my photo with the guest of honor. Maybe on his real birthday.
Lesson 9: Kids love the cake.
Even at 8, the kids still love to see what the cake looks like. Our cake is always made with love by Nana.
Thankfully she made 2 green cakes. The kids whipped through that first cake so quickly and they all wanted seconds! I was really starting to wonder if I was going to get a piece at all! In the end, we had 2 pieces to spare.
Lesson 11: Reward yourself for getting through the party.
I may have enjoyed a beer to reward myself for getting through the first hour of the party. Heck, I needed that full 2 hours to recover from the chaos that ensued before the truck arrived.
The next day while the kids were at school I had an hour to kill, rather than running an errand, I stopped at Starbucks and grabbed a frappacino and finished my book. Has anyone else read Me Before You by JoJo Meyers? So SO good. Highly recommend. Now I have to find someone to see the movie with me.....
Back to the party. Yes, it was crazy. Yes, it was loud. Yes, it was expensive. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. While this may not have been a party I enjoyed as much as other years, I know it was exactly what Grady wanted. This is after all about him and celebrating the fine young man that he is becoming. If he asks me to have a home party again next year I won't say no, but I will strongly suggest an activity at a different locale. If all else fails and he really wants it at home, I would invite half the kids as I did this year. Apparently I am not as qualified as the teenagers that hosted the kids at the gym in the past.
Today I a patting myself on the back that we survived another year of birthday parties. IF only Cooper wasn't already asking for a Gaming Truck party as well.... is it bad we've told him that you have to be 8? Nah, I didn't think so.
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