Adam's Birthday Party

Adam had his first birthday party with friends on Friday. We gave out invitations to every child in his kindergarten class and invited all of the cousins his age. By Thursday evening, we had only heard from 5 kids in his class. I thought the party was going to be pretty small, so I bought things and planned for around 10 kids (just in case some people showed up that did not RSVP). Friday morning, I found out that none of the cousins would be able to attend. I tried to prepare Adam for a small party. Adam insisted that his whole class was coming. I told Adam that only 5 people called, and assured him that it would be small. After school, Adam got in the car and said, everyone is coming except one person. Hmmm... I thought maybe the kids were talking excitedly about the party. Still, I thought if people were coming surely they would RSVP.

About 30 minutes before the party I had several people call and ask for directions to our house. At that point, I knew we would have more than 5 kids. But I still didn't think there would be more than 10.

Ruth, Kate, and Johnny helped me get set up for the birthday party. They each set up and planned a game (Older children are really nice with things like this :>). Ruth filled balloons with gum for a balloon popping game; Kate did a fishing pond with prizes, and Johnny did archery with prizes.

At about 3:45 (15 minutes before the party) we had kids begin to show up. Over the next 20 minutes, more and more kids came. We had to keep adding to our table set up for cupcake decorating, and eventually, we had to move some kids out to make room for others. After moving some kids around, I was really thankful for Ruth, Kate, and Johnny's roles. They started taking groups of kids over to their games, while others decorated cupcakes.

We got everyone through the cupcake decorating and moved onto the games. John and I quickly cleaned up the kitchen and then helped with the games and even did one more as the first group of kids finished all three games.

Then we opened all of the presents, gave out candy and parents came. In all, I think we had between 15 and 20 kids come. Adam loved his party and when it was over declared that this was exactly what he wanted to do next year and the year after. I guess next time I should listen to Adam when he says his whole class is coming and be better prepared. Still, I am glad that Adam had such a big fun party for his very first big birthday party. I am also very grateful for 3 older kids who were excited to help out.