Oh … my … goodness. I can’t believe I survived the chaos at my house last night. Ten people with guns in my backyard. Deadly gas. Bodies sprawled out all over the floor downstairs in my house. I kid you not.
My oldest son Benjamin, who turns 10 today, had a sleepover party with a bunch of his friends. We were concerned that only two or three of his friends were going to show up because we had no RSVPs as of Thursday. But then the calls from the moms came in a hurry and there were 10 of them. Most people in our area spend tons of money on birthday parties for kids. We don’t have tons of money, so we got creative. We ate pizza, made marshmallow guns with PVC pipe, rented a movie and discovered that my house actually is big enough to play hide and seek in.
The highlight was the guns, though. I know it went over well, because we had 10 kids come over and only six were going to stay the night. But of those four who were going home, three called their parents and (successfully) begged them to sleep over. The fourth just couldn’t.
After loading them up on pizza (which, judging by the “noises” I heard, triggered some lactose-intolerant reactions), I gave instructions on how to build the marshmallow guns. I had cut a ton of pieces for them and they had 30 minutes to build and decorate (with colored electrical tape) their guns. We had a shooting competition, but they were more interested in mass warfare. I just sat back and watched, listening to the noise that our neighbors three streets over surely heard.
One of the kids told me it was one of the “funnest” birthday parties he’d ever been to, that normally kids just go to movies or water parks, but this time he was getting to do something fun.
Tiff had more junk food out than the boys could handle. Cupcakes, fresh-baked brownies, a three-pound bag of peanut M&Ms, oreos, sandwich cookies, Doritos, pizza … no wonder those boys had so much gas. They had a sour-candy eating competition, where they had to keep a straight face as long as possible. The winner got first pick at the donuts this morning. At one point, Tiff had some candy that she was willing to give to any one of the boys who was willing to smell our dog’s breath.
Eventually, we got a movie on. They picked Tron, and I picked it up. They actually sat still for a little while and watched the movie. Then it was time for hide-and-seek. My house is two stories, 1860 square feet. Not too big. We kept them downstairs, because Jack was upstairs. Somehow, they all found places to hide.
They were totally amped up on sugar and insistent on staying up until midnight to count down to Benjamin’s birthday, like it was New Year’s Eve. I went to sleep eventually and let Tiff take over. She said she got them all in their sleeping bags by 11:15, but you know how nine 10-year-olds in sleeping bags are — they were up until midnight.
Seven hours of sleep was enough for them and they were at full strength this morning. More marshmallow gun madness. A quick magic show by Benjamin. Donuts and hot chocolate. Pokemon on TV. Those kids had a blast. Benjamin probably earned some cool points out of this one, and nothing against my son, but that’s something he can use.
It was kind of a back-to-the-basics birthday party, like something from when I was a kid. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, just a bunch of kids playing and having fun. Amazing concept, huh? One of the best parts of all this is that Jack didn’t interfere with the party and had a good night, and the kids had a good time at the party and none of it interfered with Jack’s routine or sleep.
So, we survived, and soon, the clean-up process will begin. But we survived. 10 males with guns in the backyard. Deadly gas. Bodies all over the downstairs in our house. It was the best birthday party I’ve ever been to!
Dave says
That’s awesome! Kids get so much ‘organized’ fun they seem to have a blast any time they can just be kids. Good for you guys to foster that for them!! Happy birthday Benjamin! Welcome to double digits!!
Just Run With It says
Awww!! haha, I LOVE this. How FUN. Sounds like you guys threw one heck of a bday party for Ben (happy birthday to him, btw!) and they all had a blast. For the record, you totally got me with the title. I was like “WTH?!?”, haha, nice work.
Brandon says
Sounds like an awesome time. I love the “back to basics” birthday party, it drives me insane how it seems like a contest between parents to throw the most expensive, extravagant birthday parties they can. When, even as one of the kids told you, the simpler party was actually more fun for the kids.
Cassey says
I am just now getting to read this! I’m so glad it went good! Sounds like a wonderful party!!