Guidelines to remember:

Feign disinterest. Seem easy going. If you ACT obsessive and panicky, all will be hell. When someone flips the off switch on the air jumper you rented in the backyard, don’t envision 9 little bodies suffocating inside the walls as it crashes to the ground. Calmly delegate the job of turning the blower back on to a parent who looks quick-footed, and continue cutting up the pineapple.

Don’t be rational. Really, what is sane about giving a rowdy bunch of 3 to 5 year olds a bat and pointing them toward a candy-filled target hanging up above their heads? And how does one convince not only the 10 or so present mothers, but the two men holding the rope to suspend the pinata in the air that THIS is a good idea? And, by the way, now is NOT a good time to lay down the rules to your child that she cannot have the hard candy that she had to fight three older boys for when they finally tore open the belly of the battered pinata.

Be breezy. Yes, every 4 year old in blowing distance is going to help with the candles, and some will be using their noses. Yes, someone is going to put his or her used spoon back into the container of clean spoons. And of COURSE some little child is going to flush some mysterious substance down the toilet. You cannot prepare for such things, and yes you may secretly want to hurl, but you have to just roll with it and keep smiling.

We celebrated our older child’s fifth birthday last weekend and had a great time. Most of her classmates were in attendance, as well as family (via webcast!), friends, and neighbors. We rented a jumper, ordered up the best weather of the year thus far, filled the inflatable pool, borrowed some lawn furniture, and partied for 3 straight hours.

Happy Birthday, Kelsey!

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