Category Archives: vacation

Celebrating 13: How do you throw a party for a 13 year old boy?

When my son was born I couldn’t imagine this day. I couldn’t see past the diapers and onesies and sudden mounds of laundry created by a very small 7 pound 8 ounce baby. I couldn’t imagine having an hour to myself much less conjure the day this boy would be making plans with his friends that didn’t involve the word playdate.

But the day has come.

How to celebrate?

This was a real quandary for me. If you’ve read here for any length of time, you know I’m a fan of the down-home birthday party. There have been pirate parties and jungle parties and gazillion of other parties involving cake, ice cream, balloons, lots of children, and some variation of the “hot potato” game.

But 13. You know, it’s just not that cool to play hot potato anymore. So what are the options?

  • Two of his friends had pool parties at the homes of family friends of theirs that have pools. Not only do we not have a pool of our own, we don’t have close friends with a pool of their own, so…pool party: out.
  • Sleepover? Yuck. I was so NOT up for that.
  • Boys at the cottage? Tubing, mini-golf, beach, s’mores? Fun, yes, but how many boys would you want to take tubing? And then the sleepover is inevitable. Double yuck.

So here’s what we decided: we’d go for the element of surprise. We just threw an end-of-the-school-year party, where I had 22 kids at my house, so I WAS NOT UP FOR A HUGE PARTY. As such, we didn’t invite all of his friends, just a few we knew were in town that weekend. We settled on a date a full two weeks before his birthday (before he pinned me down with his frequent, “Mom, what are we going to do for my birthday this year?”) Included: cake, ice cream, enough soda and Doritos to scare any parent, an outdoor movie projected in our backyard, and a request for your parents to pick you up at 11:00. See, that’s the bonus of being 13–your friends can go home really late and it’s totally fine. Hooray!

This also marks the first time I didn’t make his cake myself, because how on earth could I explain making a birthday cake so far in advance of his birthday? Instead, we bought this lovely gem at Costco which may have been enough cake to feed our entire town. It was quite tasty, I must admit. And wow, placing the order and picking it up: so easy!

On his actual birthday, we took him to Chicago to see the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry and, if I say so myself, that was a great idea all the way around. Chicago: awesome! Harry Potter exhibit: very cool! Legoland Discovery Center: fine, but mini-lego of Chicago skyline: awesome!


And since I haven’t found my camera, my very very very pretty and very very very nice friend Sharee’ lent me hers for the weekend. Because I’m so responsible, you know. I’d never lose it.

A True List Maker

I am a list maker, as was my mother before me, and her mother before her.  I know this because I’ve seen them.  Lists have graced our kitchen tables, our countertops and our refrigerators for years.  Although my grandmother is gone, I’m sure she’s proud that I’m carrying on this fine, organized, family tradition.

One of my essential lists is the Vacation List.  My husband takes care of his own packing, but it’s me who packs for the rest of us.  Just recently, I’ve been able to hand the boys a list of their own:  choose 5 pairs of shorts, 2 pairs of jeans, 6 shirts, etc. and set them on your bed. (I still count before putting them into the bags, just to be sure.  I’d hate to end up in Italy, for example, with 1 pair of boy’s socks and underwear!)  But in years past my list was an entire page long, filled with reminders to bring extra playpen sheets and diapers and onesies.  Don’t forget the blankie, or toys for the plane (or car), and certainly don’t forget the baby Advil, just in case.  (They don’t sell that many places, you see.)  Even now, with the boys chipping in, I am the keeper of the Master List, responsible for making sure that clean skivvies are available for all and asthma medicine is packed and ready to go.

My list has three parts: To Pack (now); To Pack (once it’s clean); and To Pack in the AM (before we leave).  I arrange my list this way because it’s how my brain works.  To file these things together would leave me scrambling – Did I pack that yet?  Is that in the wash?  Do I have all of the toothbrushes?  And the AM list is essential, because anyone who knows me knows that I must be awake at least a full hour before my brain gears actually engage.  Until then, it’s slushy up there and I need a list to follow to be sure my hairbrush makes the trip.  It missed the last one, which apparently started a little too early for me to even follow a list correctly.

Of course I also make To Do lists (To Do Today, To Do Soon, To Respond To, etc); I make grocery lists (separate ones for the supermarket, Costco, and farmer’s market); I make lists about things I’d like to accomplish, things I’d like to do with my kids, books I hope to read, and ideas for writing.  My most productive days happen when I follow a well-constructed list.

I wonder if my grandmother felt that way.

Did I mention that my mother’s maiden name is List?