A party for the preschooler

Well, I disregarded the advice of some very smart and savvy people and decided to actually have a birthday party for Larson. At home. Turns out that when you turn three, it's not so cool to have all your parent's friends over for conversation and cake. No, we've reached the age where the little guy has his own friends and just wants them to come over and play. I've heard and read about little kids' birthday parties "gone wild" with hired performers, entertainment, etc, etc. Brett and I weren't quite prepared to go down that path (I was having nightmares about the opening scene from "Mrs. Doubtfire"), so we decided just to have a small gathering of Larson's friends for some playtime and cake. It's a fine balance between providing your child with happy birthday memories and going overboard with things that are really only important to adults. First, the cake: Larson wanted a chocolate cake with green frosting, so that's what we made. He was a great helper! I actually made the bigger mess when I dropped the bag of powdered sugar and coated my pants, apron, socks, floor and even Cora's toys with it. Oh, well, that's what dishrags and mops are for, I suppose :) I made "dirt" with crushed Oreo cookies for a couple of construction trucks to drive around on. Those were a big hit: here's Larson trying to guard his digger from everyone else and trying SO hard to be patient for my pictures before he could pick it up.
It also turns out that catering for a crowd of preschoolers is pretty easy: chocolate milk, mini corn dogs (sans ketchup, of course...I'm not that crazy!), PB&J and some fruit did the trick. Plus a few extras for the grown ups. Lots of people told me to keep the party short (my plan was about 2 hours) and keep the activities moving. I felt a little like a cruise director with my: "OK, everyone...who's ready for cake?" and "Let's all sit down so Larson can open his presents now." I'm a bit of a wallflower at social gatherings and I don't particularly like being in the spotlight, so it felt a little weird, but it was definitely necessary for someone to be in charge of the whole operation. Whew! Who knew it would be so complicated? :)

Anyway, it was a great day. I'm pretty sure the kids all had fun, especially when one of Larson's friends cried after his parents told him it was time to go home. Thanks everyone for celebrating with us!