Planning Brendan’s birthday party is one of my very favorite things to do. Lots of people might think that spending a lot of time getting ready for a three year old’s party is a waste of time – that it’s a day they will only have foggy memories of at best. But for me, it’s an excuse to plan a day completely centered around celebrating the boy whom I love most of all. I try so hard not to do the things that I, personally think are fun, but to plan every last detail to be things that will delight him. The first two birthdays, I had to guess what he would pick if he could express his wishes. It wasn’t too hard to figure out that bubbles and scoops (both the ice cream and construction varieties) were his most favorite things – but this year, I could ask him. I will admit that what he told me was that he wanted a Superman party, but one of the things I hope to instill in this little man, is that he should never want to be anyone other than the very best version of himself. He is a superhero. And so is everyone else. So I took his request, altered it ever-so-slightly, and delivered him a Superhero party focused around my favorite hero… Super Brendan.
Since we had his party at school, and didn’t want any of the kids to feel left out if we didn’t invite the whole class, we decided that for this year, we would just invite the people who are special to our whole family. Not everyone could make it, and Mommy was so late mailing the invites that I sent out an email invitation instead – but we had a really nice group. The Uncles even flew in to join us – and we were not only delighted, but relieved to have them. I have this crazy desire not to do any of the party set-up until Brendan goes down for his nap – it’s so fun to have him wake up in birthday land. This means that as much planning and preparation and as many lists as I make (I can hear you all laughing from here….) there is an inevitable mad dash once he’s tucked into his bed asleep. It’s probably the closest I come to a bridezilla. But Chef Brian didn’t even raise an eyebrow when I put him to work preparing our high-end menu: Grapes, carrot sticks, marshmallows, strawberries, cheese puffs, and star shaped ham and cream cheese sandwiches on white bread. It wasn’t until Brian asked if I wanted him to create another dish for the adults that I realized perhaps it was silly to serve a menu of Brendan’s favorites when 75% of the guests are adults. But sometimes it’s nice to have an excuse to be a kid again – and besides, I know that the only thing people really want to eat is Grandma’s cake.
With everyone’s help, almost all the set-up was done before the first calls of “Mommy?!?! Daddy?!?!?” came from upstairs. He knew when he woke up from his nap it was birthday party time, and as he slept I snuck in and hung his brand new Super Brendan costume just where he’d see it as soon as he woke up. From the moment he opened his eyes, it was pure magic. He couldn’t wait to change into his outfit, and as I announced his decent down the stairs to the family below, he fully embodied his character.
Just in case, I had a “B” on one side of his cape, and the Superman “S” on the other. I let him choose, and I was pleased he went with the “B”. He walked around the yard, both with me, and all by himself, and took it all in – just as I had hoped he would.
And then he saw the cake… and for the rest of the time until we cut the cake, he was transfixed. I’m not sure whether he was more excited about eating it or playing with the toys, but I do know that Grandma let him sneak a few licks of frosting on his finger. I caught him trying to stick his little finger in there one time and told him no – we couldn’t do that, we had to wait until we cut the cake and shared it with everyone. Grandma looked at me with a stern look and said, “Mommy – that’s HIS cake.” I reminded her that when I was a little girl she NEVER would have let me do that. She sheepishly agreed, but I caught B with frosting on his face, and what happens with Grandma, stays with Grandma… Lucky for us, it was the largest birthday cake in human history. Bigger than our wedding cake – and it turned out that we barely even touched the one tier that Brendan could get his little fingers on. It was an incredible cake – thank you Grandma.
As guests arrived, they were asked to suit up (if they weren’t already… many people came in their own awesome uniforms), and get their identification card issued at the SRO – you know, the Superhero Registration Office.
Then as they demonstrated their Superhero skills at the party, they got a star punched onto their card, and collected a different prize from the prize wheelbarrow. Thank goodness Rob ended up letting me keep the wheelbarrow from last years party – it comes in so handy for rides, and for birthday parties. If anyone needs to actually haul something, let us know…
The Superhero Acts that had to be demonstrated:
HELPER: Rescue some poor animals trapped in crumbling buildings (awesome skyline courtesy of Daddy)
STRENGTH – try to break free from a sturdy chain
SMART: Find superhero matches in a game of memory (Mommy always tries to work that game into any affair)
BRAVE: Gather your courage and walk through the ring of fire
You should properly stimulate the cipla cialis clitoris before the love act and satisfy your female. The company has registered doctors all over Australia and you can experience the best result within 45 minutes to 1 hour.* It has proved to be an effective treatment for high blood pressure and chest levitra without prescription pains. PDE5 InhibitorsThe prescription PDE5 inhibitors sildenafil (discover over here viagra 100mg generika), vardenafil (viagra) and tadalafil (order viagra online) are prescription drugs which can cause $35 – $45 a pill. Treat Male Disorder cheap viagra in australia with Kamagra Male Disorder is the condition in which fatty patches or plaques are formed in the inner ear causing occurrence of the vertigo.
FAST: Try to win against the fastest guy we know…. Daddy. One of my favorite moments was when Uncle Frank managed to beat Daddy and commented, “I’ll bet you haven’t one a race all day!” Brendan heard this and said, “C’mon Daddy – lets go race and win together.” I tear up just thinking about it.
KINDNESS: This was an undefined task… each person had to figure out and demonstrate their own act of kindness. With the crowd we had, this was the easiest one of all.
Then it was time to sing to a shy birthday boy, let him make a wish and blow out his candles – and FINALLY, eat the cake. Of course, Grandma had an entire small cake just for Brendan.
We were lucky to have Uncle Joel there taking photos, (NOTE: all really awesome photos in this post contributed by Uncle Joel) and at the last minute we thought to try and capture a few family shots – but the Superhero was on a little bit of a sugar high. I’m sure it was a SuperSugarHigh.
There are many moments and people that I didn’t get to capture with photos – but I will remember that everyone seemed happy and relaxed, and that equals a good party for me. Because there were activities for me to help with, I couldn’t stay in the kitchen doing things, and got to interact with everyone. I liked that. But watching Brendan’s face as he experienced his third birthday party is a gift I will always hold in my heart.
Проститутки Новокузнецка