Birthday Party

I promised Everett five months ago that he could have a birthday party when he turned 6.  As his birthday got closer, we knew we had to buckle down and figure out our plans.  Joel wanted to keep it small, and suggested that Everett pick one friend to go see a movie with.  Everett did not like that idea.  "I can't do that, Papa!" Everett insisted.  "If I pick {friend A}, then {friend B} will feel left out.  And if I pick {friend B}, then {friend A} will feel left out.  I don't want to make anybody feel bad."

 

I thought that was really sweet of Everett, so I promised (again) that we could plan an actual party for him.  BUT, I did want to keep it small.  So we only invited the boys from Everett's primary class.  That meant there were four six year olds total, which was the perfect number.  Get this particular group of boys together, and their energy compounds until it feels like a circus has arrived.

 

I love it.  They are a lot of fun.

 

Everett wanted to have a superhero party.  He has been keen on the idea of a party because he knew people would bring him lots of presents.  I had to sit down with Everett and explain that you don't have a party to get presents; you have a party so you can celebrate a special day with people you like.  I suggested that instead of his friends bringing Everett a present, they could all bring an old toy to donate to the local domestic abuse shelter. 

 

I was surprised at how quickly Everett became excited about this idea.  He immediately lit up and began thinking of toys he could collect.  I was feeling so fond of that little boy at that moment that I probably would have given him the moon if he had asked.  I didn't want to push the idea on him because the donation wouldn't have meant anything to him if he wasn't willing to go through with it.

 

Everett was all for it, so he and I came up with an invitation.  We printed it on gold cardstock and put  a "Top Secret" notation on the outside.  Everett also wanted me to make masks for everyone, so I whipped some up and we delivered them with the invites the next day.

 

 

(Invite fail: no day or date!  Fortunately I had already told all the Moms when this was happening.)

 

We invited the guests to wear superhero costumes.  I was happy to see that they all did.

 

I had a difficult time getting pictures of everyone.  They were all pumped to be able to be superheroes for the evening.

I wish I had pictures of the toy part of the party, but I didn't take any (smacking forehead).  I had been hoping we could take the toys and donate them somewhere in person, because it would mean more to the boys that way, but the domestic abuse shelter's location is understandably kept secret and the main office wasn't open during the party hours.  Fortunately the kind soul I spoke with on the phone volunteered to come over to my house during the party, talk to the boys about the shelter, and collect the toys herself.

It worked out great!  The boys got to meet her and tell her all about the toys they chose and the memories they had.  She explained that the children who come to the shelter have to leave their homes very suddenly and are not able to bring much with them.  They all miss having toys.  She also explained that there were currently a lot of little boys at the shelter and that they would really appreciate being able to have a toy to play with.

We had a nice little pile of toys.  The day before the party, Everett couldn't stop collecting things to give, and I didn't want to squelch his little fire, so I let him choose what he wanted.  I was amazed at his attitude.  He wanted to give the best of everything he had.  I even let him choose some of his old legos to give away, since good friends of ours gifted him with a new (to him) box full.  Everett chose the coolest pieces and the best building components.  "Some little boy will really like to play with this one," and "I've GOT to put this one in.  It's awesome!" Everett repeated to himself.

 

This is a wonderful group of boys.  They all get along.  And none of them seemed to feel the sacrifice was too great.  I really appreciated their mothers who were kind enough to help them contribute. (You can actually see some of the toys we donated in the left corner of this photo.)

 

 

 

 

 

I knew I would need to get these four out of the house and doing something active.  Where to go on a cold, dark, November night?  That's right.  McDonald's! 

 

 

 

 

Apparently the whole city had the same idea because it was packed. But we got our food (happy meals) and our drinks (sprite and orange soda), and the boys got plenty of energy out in the Playplace. Are 6-year-olds too old to enjoy the playplace? I wondered. No. No they are not, especially when dressed as superheroes. The cherry on top of the whole deal was that the happy meal toy was a little skateboard. (Tragically, one of the boys left his at McDonald's.)

 

 

 After I bribed the boys to leave with an ice cream cone (which was much more appealing than crawling in the tunnels after them), we piled in the car and went home for some cake.

 

Everett saw a picture of a batman-shaped cake online.  It had five layers, each a different color of the rainbow.  I had three cake pans and one cake mix (I prefer cakes from scratch, but I was not going to all that effort for boys who would eat a french fry off the floor), so I told Everett to choose three colors.  He picked green, orange, and blue, and I threw the cake together.  It doesn't look the best, but at least Everett liked it.

 

After cake, we made lightsabers out of pool noodles and tape.  It was a big hit!  Fortunately I had just enough for Ashley and William to make one, too.

 

 

 

 

(Ashley had a nice evening eating candy and watching Brave with Joel, hence the bow she is holding).  I love that Ashley is so very right at home with boys.  I won't love it so much ten years from now.

 

I think everyone had a fun night, especially Joel, who allowed himself to get whacked more times than any sane man should.

Ashley really got into it!  William did as well, but I didn't get any pictures of him fighting.

 

 

At the end of the day, all he really wanted was to play cars with someone, anyone!

 

 

I hope Everett had a good birthday party.  It was the first one for both of us.  I loved the "true hero" component of the party.  Serving on your birthday is like giving the world a great big hug for taking such good care of you.  We will have to make it a tradition!