Anatomy of a Birthday Party

Aidan turned 12. Here's the plan bringing it to life. (Click to enlarge.)

Aidan turned 12 on Wednesday, April 30 and we held his birthday that Saturday. You can see the hastily drawn battle plan above. Actually, it just looks that way. My handwriting is atrocious. Hopefully, the typewritten explanation gives you (and me) a clearer understanding of what our intentions were.

Let's start at the beginning. During Aidan's Sports Fest themed birthday party last year, one of Aidan's friends bounced off a giant inflatable ball and smacked his face on the gym floor. (I cringe writing that sentence.)  So this year, we ditched the big ball. In fact, we axed the sports theme altogether in favor of games we've played as a family. UNO, Spoons, Bluff, Slap Jack etc. Stuff where nary a body part makes contact with hard objects.

However, we had another "problem." Our main concern was whether kids raised on video games would have a good time doing things that don't involve a screen and a joystick (even though joysticks no longer exist, you know what I mean). I can't get preachy here because I do play video games, and Ginger will read this blog post and give me a pouty face. I can say we wanted to provide an experience for both Aidan and his friends that actively engaged them, and made them engage each other.

Turns out our worries were unfounded. Everyone had a blast. Thankfully, they're still kids at heart. We had fun too. Interestingly, the "worst" activity was watching the movie "The Amazing Spider Man" As it progressed, people started peeling off and playing darts and floor hockey on their own. Of course, it's only fitting that one of the few photos we took was of the kids watching the movie.

Pizza, pretzels, dirt dessert and ice cream help Aidan and his friends power through the Amazing Spiderman. From left: Aubrie, Ethan, Jamie, Kevin, Paul, Sam, Aidan, Luke (on the ground).