Once, when Jeff and I were planning on starting a family, we heard other teachers say spring time was ideal for having a baby since maternity leave could roll into summer break and have a long time off with the baby. What we didn't consider was how busy the spring time is after that first year, between teaching (plus state testing) and spring activities for the boys, like swim lessons and t-ball, and us four just trying to enjoy the improving weather (like yard work or hiking). Now, Nathan's birthday always approaches at a time when our life verges on chaotic and every year I feel the pressure to plan something that matches the Pinterest version of kids' parties.
This year, several weeks out I asked Nathan if he would like a Lego themed party after finding some fairly simple projects with cute effect for a party. Nathan loves Legos so naturally, I thought this would be the perfect theme. His response?
Well, Mom...I was thinking it could be a pioneer party.
Let me tell you, that was the last thing I expected to hear from my almost 8 year old. To be fair, I should not have been too surprised. For Christmas Nathan received a set of "Choose your Own Adventure" books that followed the Oregon trail. He read through them quickly and loved learning about the trials of the trail. I gave him a hesitant acknowledgement and asked him for more details on what that would look like.
Well, I was thinking we could put a covered wagon on the cake.
Yes, the cake is the most important part for an almost 8 year old.
And maybe we could make butter in a jar?
I love Nathan and his appreciation for history, but I'm not sure too many other 7 or 8 year olds want to come over and make butter. Maybe I'm wrong? Back to Pinterest I went to find that searches for "kids pioneer party" produces primarily parties designed for little girls in bonnets and decor from "Little House on the Prairie". Ideas for boys were closer to cowboys of the Old West which didn't seem exactly like pioneers traveling the trail. Again, time was limited and I needed to send invitations soon. So, I took my search for ideas to my freshman students who enthusiastically suggest going to a pioneer themed farm for kids in Puyallup, bringing goats to our backyard, or designing an Oregon trail inspired live action role play. 😳 I appreciated their enthusiasm, but no more confident in my ability to throw a pioneer party for kids.
With Nathan's birthday less than four weeks away, I resolve myself to send invitations to his friends and make it work. One busy evening, I attempt to drop Nathan and Jeff off at Nathan's track practice, while Andrew and I go buy invitations. Nathan suddenly becomes emotional and says,
Mom, I want to make invitations.
Okay...then, we'll make invitations. Again, I love his creative mind and want to encourage him in these endeavors (for Valentine's Day, he carefully folded origami for each of his friends instead of buying cards). The next day I bring home an assortment of brown and tan colored construction paper from my classroom, that would surely be appropriate for a covered wagon type invitation. I offer the paper to Nathan while trying to make dinner, but his face is again flush with emotion. Nathan, buddy, what's wrong? I explain the brown paper wagon idea, attempting to understand what I could have done to upset him.
I want to have an inventor party.
I think I missed something here. Okay. Fine. We have to do this tonight. I ask Jeff to work on the computer with Nathan by his side designing an invitation appropriate to an inventor party. Nathan is revived by the wide world of clipart and the ability to find any picture and attach to a Word document. They agree on a lightbulb image and sort out the details of the party. By the time dinner is over we have a set of invitations printed up and a boy proudly seeing a vision come to life. Back to Pinterest I go.
In the end, I ordered a ton of art supplies from Amazon and we set up a creative workshop where the kids (and adults) could design and craft. We weren't making robots or anything, but Nathan seemed satisfied and mostly, loved the time with close friends and family. The kids used all sorts of supplies to their imagination, then made their own pizzas. The weather was perfect and there was cake.
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| Having limited supplies in the cupboard, we tried for a lightbulb. It sort of looks like a hot air balloon, but Nathan was okay with that as well. |
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| Designing his own decorations |
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| Every inventor needs an apron to work |
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| Little brother Andrew loves taking pictures |
At age 8, Nathan has a creative mind and uses his imagination to design, draw, or play with his brother. He is curious about the world and is an avid reader of books and maps. Nathan has a big heart and loves people, empathizing with characters who suffer pain or loss while watching Disney movies (through tears: why did Mr. Banks lose his job and why did that man tear his hat?). I tell him he is my heart on the outside and I feel so thankful to be his mom. 💗
Just for fun, I asked Nathan a few questions:
- If you were to have 1 million dollars, what would you do with it? Help people in need.
- What do you think your brother will be when he grows up? Builder
- What does daddy do best? Give hugs
- What is your mom good at? Making good dinner
- Who do you want to be when you grow up? Astronaut
- Will you have kids? How many kids will you have? 5
- Where will you live when you grow up? Washington, Sunnyside
- What are you afraid of? I'm not afraid of anything
- What are you proud of? My artwork
- Tell me more about best day in your life? My first grade field trip to the beach
- What is the healthiest thing you can eat? Carrots
- Tell me a joke. Where did the pencil go on vacation? Pencil-vaynia
- Favorite part of your birthday: having friends over
I'm not sure this video will work, but it's Nathan's kids' pastor at church singing Happy Birthday while throwing pom-poms at him.
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