Boys and Cars and Birthday Parties !

Courtesy of The Trenches

It’s that time of year again!

While most people are planning holiday festivities,
our family is planning a birthday party.

Holiday babies present a special problem.
From the moment my son was born, a week before Christmas,
everyone instilled in me how important it was to
‘Make His Birthday Special!!’

So every year the question comes up-
What do we do for a birthday party?
And every year it gets harder, because they are getting bigger,
and even a teensy bit cynical sometimes.

This year proved to be the toughest yet, my son’s 10th birthday party….

How to entertain 15 10-year-old boys for 2 hours?

And the answer came out of the mouths of babes….

My son heard about a new place that opened up for parties,
a simple little warehouse….

So how could a little warehouse, with no decorations,
appeal to a bunch of little boys that are starting to get big?

It couldn’t. Unless this little warehouse was filled with…

VIDEO GAMES!

Yes, you heard me right. A video game party.
The little warehouse we went to is called The Trenches.
And for a reasonable fee, you rent the whole place for 2 hours.
You get the whole place to yourself,
and there are tons of video games and they are all free-
no tokens, no tickets,
JUST PRESS START.

The place had old-time arcade games, new ones, Xboxes, and much, much more.
So the boys get to run around and play games,
have the whole place to themselves,
and just take breaks for pizza and birthday cake.

You’re done. The boys LOVED this. This was the easiest birthday party ever!

I believe that this is the next up-and-coming trend in birthday parties.
I have heard that these are popping up around the country,
along with video game buses, so the birthday party can come to you!

How good of an idea is this? I cannot stress how much all the boys LOVED this party!

And to top it all off, I drove my son and a couple of friends to the party in the Cadillac CTS, the 2014 MotorTrend Car of the Year.
And the boys thought it was so cool!

In other words, Mom saves the day, and makes the birthday special, for another year….

Yey Mom!

Happy Birthday to all the Holiday Babies out there!!!!

The boys loved the Cadillac CTS Dashboard

Cartoons Don’t Make Sense

June 8, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Parenting 

It’s almost summer and most of the time my little guy and I are outside, at the pool, or at the park. But running around outside all day is fairly exhausting to me, so we usually need some down time in the late afternoon.

The other day we turned on WordWorld, a wonderful show that teaches children how to read, plus it’s pretty clever and cute.

So we’re watching it, leaning back on our couch and it occurred to me that the dog on WordWorld is the only animal that can’t talk; the duck can talk, the bear, even the frog and the ant can talk. An insect can talk but not the poor dog?

And then I thought, ‘Dogs can never talk on cartoons, they are everybody’s, even other animals’ pets… Why is that?’

Oswald the Octopus has a pet dog that can’t talk… His friend Daisy can talk and she’s a PLANT! And I’m not even acknowledging the fact that Oswald lives on land and not in the sea.

Pluto is another dog that can’t talk… and his owner is a mouse, 
granted, a very famous mouse, but still, just a mouse. 
Poor Pluto, he is also the only cartoon dog to be subjected to being in the same cartoon with 
the only dog in cartoon land that can talk and wears clothesGOOFY! 
How must Pluto feel? Why isn’t Goofy a pet?

The inconsistencies in cartoons are maddening; 
Maybe not maddening, but definitely annoying.

Seriously, Dora and Diego’s parents let them run all over the place on adventures with monkeys and baby jaguars.

And speaking of parents, where are Max and Ruby’s parents? No wonder Ruby gets so annoyed with Max, she’s basically raising him by herself… and I think she’s supposed to be about 8!

And while we are on the subject, Madam Butterfly (on Oswald the Octopus) is the only main character on that show that has a job, 
AND SHE IS A SINGLE MOTHER. She’s always in a good mood too. She has a kind word for anybody and everybody…

Maybe cartoons are more accurate than I first thought.

Or maybe I need a hobby…

What Are THE RULES of the Tooth Fairy?

May 25, 2010 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Kindergartners, Parenting 

I just learned something of vital importance in the real world of little boys and little girls…

The Tooth Fairy.

Yes, the tooth fairy is up there with Santa… at least in our house.

My son recently lost his first tooth- and he’s OVER THE MOON ABOUT IT!

There is even a ‘tooth chart’ in his classroom.  You get on the chart when,

you guessed it, you lose a tooth.

But what are the rules of the tooth fairy?  Lots of kids we know have gotten presents from the tooth fairy; a quarter doesn’t cut it anymore.

So when the tooth fairy visited our house, he or she left 6 dollars (because my son is 6) and a whiffle ball and bat.  The tooth fairy also wanted me to tell my son that the 6 dollars was a one-time-thing, for his FIRST tooth.  He/She will be leaving a dollar from now on.

A fellow mom friend explained to my son and hers why different kids get different things from the tooth fairy:

“I think there are lots of tooth fairies and there are boy tooth fairies too.  I think there is at least a few per zip code.  I mean, there are lots of kids out there.”

And my son nodded in agreement like, ‘of course, that’s why kids get different presents from the tooth fairy… because they are different fairies, and some like to give dollars and some give whiffle bats and balls and some wrap their presents and some do not!’

And so, in my son’s mind, there are lots of fairies all around, watching for ‘falling teeth’ and ready to work, when we go to bed.

That’s not a bad place to be.

Call For Submissions! Write About Parenthood… For Charity

March 25, 2010 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Mom Blogs, Mom Worth, Parenting 

books Calling All Moms AND Dads!

Write For Charity is looking for a few good writers!

They are working on an anthology of short stories and poetry all centered on the topic of parenting. They are currently in their last month of their call for submissions and really want to see your stuff!
Funds from the sale of this book will be going to children’s charities!

What’s not to love-

You Write,
Get Published,
And it benefits Kids!

Love the Mom Power!

Visit their Site For Submission guidelines!

I Told My Son Leprechauns Are Pretend… And Now His Class is Making Leprechaun Traps… Woops!

March 16, 2010 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Kindergartners, Parenting, School 

leprechaun So I’m The Grinch…

I didn’t mean to be, but I am…

A few weeks ago my son and I read a book before bed about St.Patrick’s Day, and he asked me,

“Mom, are Leprechauns Real?”

My answer, “No sweetheart, they’re not real, they’re pretend.”  And he was fine with that and I didn’t think another thing about it.  He wasn’t upset or anything.  And I didn’t think I was violating any ‘unwritten rules’ of childhood…

So last week a project sheet was sent home in his backpack announcing that all the kindergartners were to make

Leprechaun Traps

at home, and bring them in on St. Patrick’s Day… to try and catch a… Yep, a Leprechaun.

My son and husband have been working on a ‘Trap’ for a few days now.  It’s sitting on our Dining Room table.

Now here’s the clincher: I haven’t ruined anything for my son by telling him leprechauns are just pretend because…

wait for it…

His teacher told the class they are real…   so my son thinks I’m just misinformed… wrong even.

My son totally thinks Leprechauns are real…

Whew!  Thank God for 6-year-olds’ suspension-of-disbelief!

But, just a question: Where is it written that leprechauns qualify for the

‘Yes, they’re real, sweetheart, always BELIEVE’ category…

I wish there was a book.

‘You Can Say Whatever You Want, But It Has To Start With Y…’

March 11, 2010 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Great Quotes, Parenting 

Quotable Friday I normally share great, usually inspirational quotes, on Fridays,

under my feature,

Quotable Fridays,

Today I share an actual quote my 6-year-old son uttered,

“You can say Whatever You Want,

But it Has To Start with Y.”

Meaning- Yes.

Well, nobody has ever accused him of being dumb.

I wish that actually worked!

I love the mind of a 6-year-old :)

Back to your day… enjoy and have a good one!


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