Gather ‘round, gather round, and learn from the mistakes of the party planner moms and dads who came before you, the bleary-eyed, sore parents of yore.
I was a work-from-home mom of two, a Realtor, but was able to do a lot of school functions and parties. This was about ten years ago and Pinterest was all the rage, a new website that is like a digital corkboard for ideas. You had to get “invited”. It was new, exciting and because it was still in beta testing, it had a little “clout”. You’d hear things at the park or birthday parties like “oh, are you on Pinterest” “are you pinning?” And “I saw the greatest thing the other day and pinned it.”
My tagline on my account was even “I need a PINtervention”. Cringe.
It was a godsend for moms like me who wanted our kids to do crafty things, make memories, help planning unique themed birthday parties and I’ll admit, I loved the thrill when people said “oh my gosh, you’re so CRAFTY.”
So, of course when I saw the Halloween craft with two white ghost footprints, a brown arm-print “spooky” tree and a yellow full moon on black construction paper, I said “perfect for the class Halloween party!” The other parents would LOVE it, their child’s feet and handprint immortalized in poster paint and cute enough to frame or stick on the fridge.
I had it all perfectly planned out. We had a drop cloth and a chair under the paint area. One parent would help the kid dip their foot in the paint tray from Home Depot, one would help them stick it on the paper and one would wipe it off with a baby wipe. Then after everyone had done the feet, we’d repeat the process with the arm, then the kids could do the yellow moon by themselves. (See pic. Adorable, right?)
About four kids in, one of them didn’t like the feel of the paint between their toes, shrieked and started to run off. This was the class with my shy, quiet, rule-loving child, but having one child who is impulsive, hates directions and is spurred on sometimes it seemed by other kids laughing (dopamine hit anyone?) I should have known better. Not all kids are the same and that’s okay, that’s the beauty of life.
A little paint got on the teacher’s circle rug and a few steps on the thankfully, more washable linoleum before we got the kid settled. Some kids didn’t want to listen to directions and did four-footprint ghosts or big smudges as they slipped. The teacher, who was brand new and the sweetest lady in the world, loved the project, but I could definitely tell she was picturing all the kids running down the hall and through the school in paint. The other moms, sweaty and with aching knees, laughed along with me, but I’m sure were also rolling their eyes inwardly at my lack of foresight.
We achieved the unthinkable and got most of the kiddos sent home with an adorable, memorable craft. I still have my kids’ today… did I repeat it though with my younger child’s party? Heck no.
However, I still didn’t learn my lesson and I took on an equally time consuming, but less messy paper plate witchcraft (haha witchcraft) that left me at 11:30 at night cutting out 42 sets (the sadists in charge decided to combine both kindy classes for ONE party…) of black hats with purple bands and a gold buckle, green noses, yellow snaggleteeth, little black warts and sorting them all into ziplocks with googly eyes and orange paper for the kids to do a hand print for her hair. (See photo) Cute, but again, I was exhausted and now had the early stages of carpal tunnel.
I did this with food crafts too, making Santa-hatted Grinch green-grape and strawberry snacks, “bloody bandaids” with graham crackers covered in a square of cream cheese and red jelly, etc etc etc. Repeat for the next six years, times two kids and at two to three parties a year and you’ll see why I spend a king’s ransom now on getting my grays covered up.
When my friend started the company MyClassroomPARTY, my kids were already past the elementary party age, but my ravaged party-parent soul said “oh hallelujah, the ones who rise up now beyond me, the party planner parents of the future have OPTIONS. You no longer have to spend hours planning classroom parties, you can order an entire classroom party in a box. These parties are just as adorable, make memories without making you nuts, and you’ll still gain accolades in the car pickup line for being so amazing.
❤️ Meagan Broeckert
This Fun Mom 