When I was a little girl I absolutely loved dressing up in a cool costume and trick or treating around to my neighbors, who every single year were so nice to make such a big deal over how clever/creative/original my costume always was. As I grew too old to trick or treat, my mother put together an amazing Halloween party one year for me and my high school friends. The highlight of it was a scavenger hunt she put together for us, starting at our house and leading us to the very end of our road - which was a graveyard! Nothing is cooler then having a Halloween party scavenger hunt with your friends in a graveyard, and I have always remembered it.
Then as I became an adult and had kids, we would always get invited to my friend's Halloween parties they would put on for all of our kids. it was such fun to dress my kids up and watch as the party hostess would always be so creative with themed snacks and games, and I ALWAYS wanted to get to host such a party - but our house was v-e-r-y small. So I was always so frustrated.
Until we bought our new house.
Our new house is big, complete with a large attached garage and a big back yard. In other words - a party house. So when our daughter Tatum was in the 4th grade, I was thrilled to be able to host our very first Halloween party. We decided to do it up big, and have a party for my daycare kids during the day one Saturday, and when that was over and it got dark, have some big 4th graders over for the "cool" party. I poured over invitations and game/food ideas, I wanted the party to be perfect. Just the right mixture of spooky and fun. Tatum even agreed to wear matching costumes with me - we were Twister boards!! What I didn't realize while attending previous Halloween parties, is all of the behind the scenes chaos that goes along with throwing a party.
The day started off well enough. God blessed us with beautiful weather - since the parties were to be outside. Bret decorated our house in gorgeous lights, our neighbor loaned us her big Halloween inflatable for the front yard, and a good friend loaned us lots and lots of spooky decorations. Everything was working out perfectly. So I slipped on my Twister costume and began the set up in the back yard. First off, we hung some string from the branches of our tree, and tied the string around donuts, for the kids to eat as a game. Next, I proceeded to take tables outside from the garage to set up, and since our dog Finn had been so good all day, I decided to bring her out in the yard with me to "help". Now don't forget that we live with a park right behind us. And who whizzed by our house right at that precise moment - but a whole family on bikes - and Finn loves to chase people on bikes! She doesn't just run along side being cute, when she chases people on bikes, she grabs their pants by her teeth and does her best to make them fall off. As soon as I saw her take off after this nice, unassuming family, I had no choice to run after her - into the park, yelling at this poor family making a huge Halloween spectacle of myself. Thank goodness they had a sense of humor.
But I hadn't learned my lesson, because when we got back to our yard, instead of putting her in the house, I left her in the yard and tied her up. The party goers came, and all looked incredibly cute in their little costumes. I had worked for weeks setting up about half a dozen crafts/games on tables, thinking the toddlers could go from table to table with their parents carnival style. But the only thing they wanted to do was blow bubbles. So I had a nice party sitting around the tiny princess bubble table talking to the parents. I was able to get teir attention directed to the donuts hanging from a tree, only to find that the dog had eaten them all. Who knew she could jump up that far on her leash?
But two boys found solace in a bowling game I had made by putting colored water in empty soda bottles. I had them lined up so nicely and festively and was thrilled when the boys wanted to play. Only thing was...they were about three, and their motor skills weren't quite there yet. I had the best time watching them try though-we kept telling them to roll the ball, but being boys, and having a lot of mini testosterone, they only wanted to throw the ball as hard as they could to REALLY MASH THOSE BOTTLES INTO THE GROUND! But their aim was off, and they didn't knock down one bottle. Being resourceful, one boy ran into my house into the playroom and got the little play vacuum to knock down the bottles (it's funny what one's brain resorts to as a problem solver) but his Grandma spotted him inches away from the bottles and so his plan was thwarted. They eventually put their heads together and decided to go next door to the other boy's house and get his battery operated car, and just run over the bottles. Success at last!
By the time party 1 was over, I was exhausted, and the plastic string holding my Twister spinner board hat on was cutting into my chin big time. But it was time for the big kids to come and the real party to begin! As the kids started arriving, of course every parent walked in with their child and wanted to compliment us on the decorations and thank us for the invite/ask what time to pick their child up. I love talking to people and was enjoying this task, when I realized that all the kids were just standing around, and you could hear crickets. No one was talking, and no one had remembered to turn any music on!
In today's world of high technology, no one has just a radio anymore - or at least we don't. So I needed to come up with a music list, and fast! This party was going down the tubes quickly. Usually like every husband, my husband does all of the audio for our parties - but for some reason he was busy and couldn't help. He set up our laptop in our sunroom, hooked some speakers up and gave me a 30 second introduction to Spotify. I had no idea what songs to download for this party - what kind of music do 4th graders like? So as each of the many, many kids arrived, I asked them what their favorite song was. It was a little awkward. I couldn't move the laptop due to cables, and it was in the most impossble place - so I had to perch in the most difficult position to operate it. As people would politely ring our front doorbell I had to scream at them to "Come In!" And "In The Sunroom - Follow My Voice"!! They would then walk in to find this crazy lady dressed like a game board awkwardly asking their child what their favorite song was. Luckily all of the parents were pretty nice and understanding, and only a few insisted on staying at the party after that. Another thing about 4th graders and the music they listen to - they told me lots of songs with inappropriate content. And I was so frazzled that I just added it to the playlist - so sporadically during the party one of said songs would come on and all the adults would panic and then sprint wildly for the laptop to delete that song. Welcome to our home kids!
And at any party, you never have enough food, but other than that, and some of the song choices, and some of the parents reluctance to leave their children, and the dog eating the decorations - I think Tatum's 1st Halloween party went pretty well. I was told afterward that several kids enjoyed themselves, and that is what is most important.
We have had other Halloween parties since, which have gone much smoother - we are starting to fall into a groove now. I read in an old book from the 40's a great idea for another Halloween party: Take the kids out on a nighttime walk. Then have a friend dress up in a bear costume and jump out and pretend to attack them! LOL. I am not going to stop until I have alienated every single kid from ever coming to one of my parties again:)
Don't Worry About Anything
Instead,
Pray About Everything.
Tell God What You Need ,
And Thank Him
For All He Has Done.
Philippians 4:6
Jayne is a very talent lady. She can do almost anything. I can see her one day writing a book about her many adventures. Love your blog keep up the great work.
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