Venting about family

[zakfoxmom]

I have been stressing out on planning my son's 5th birthday party. My husband wanted to invite the entire family for a family picnic. I have a fear of large crowds, so that does not sound fun. I do it anyway. Then half the darn family can't make for one reason or another. So I end up inviting some of my son's friends from school. Now suddenly a bunch of the family is suddenly available!!! Agh!!! Its currently Thursday night at 8:45pm and the party is on Saturday! I am freaking! I have to add to the food order, get more party bags for the kids, etc....

Ok, I am done, I feel better now. I think. Well now I want to throw up.

[Slap Maxwell]

Sounds like a huge pain. I hope everything runs smoothly. If you need a break, go into your bedroom and just lie down for a few minutes. You should do that as many times as you need to. Good luck.

[zakfoxmom]

Thank you, that makes me feel better. My mom is flying in tomorrow morning for the weekend. My mommy always makes things better :-)Here's one other good one. My husband wants to take our son to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner tomorrow night. The thought of that place makes me shiver. But our son really loves it so I have to buck up and deal. Sometimes its hard to be a mom.

[VoodooJoint]

Maybe your mom will take over. I know mine would. My mom loved it when I let her plan pretty much my entire wedding. I don;t have much interest in stuff like that so mom was happy to do it since my sisters and brothers didn't let her have any real say.

I'm lucky. The Chucky Cheese by me has a Jo-Ann fabric next door. When it gets to be too much I tell my hubby I'm going out for some air and wander around in Jo-Anns looking (and buying) fleece, yarn etc...

Hope you make it through the party. Too bad you weren't closer. You could hide in my house while I went to the party and made people so uncomfortable that they leave.

[zakfoxmom]

You're so sweet! Its kind of pathetic though, that my husband's family makes me uncomfortable. My mom is awesome, she has been helping with the planning and more likely will take over. Chuck E. Cheese won't be too bad, there is a Macy's across the way. hahaha. My husband will be the social butterfly for the party.

Question, I am going to Michael's craft store to find a fun crafty thing for 5 year old boys to do. Like paint something, I don't know. Does anyone have any ideas? Maybe painting t-shirts or something? I was trying to hire a blue Power Ranger to come to the party but lo and behold they only have white and red so that didn't work.

[Fujiko]

When I was little, my grandma would get us watercolor paints and large-ish rocks and we would paint them, usually with faces and everything so that we could have "pet rocks".

You could get an extra C&C cage and put all the pet rocks in it! Haha.

[VoodooJoint]

Originally Posted by zakfoxmom

Question, I am going to Michael's craft store to find a fun crafty thing for 5 year old boys to do. Like paint something, I don't know. Does anyone have any ideas? Maybe painting t-shirts or something? I was trying to hire a blue Power Ranger to come to the party but lo and behold they only have white and red so that didn't work.

Your talking to the craft queen of the homeschool group I run. Boy do I have ideas...

T-shirts
- make snake shirts. Bunch them up and rubberband them like you would for tye dying. Use watered down acrylic paint and let the boys blotch it on the shirts.

-Let the boys use markers on plain paper to draw their own designs for an iron on transfer. Buy the iron on transfer paper at any decent office supply store (Micheals might carry it too). Copy the designs onto the iron on stuff and iron it onto t-shirts, hats, tote bags, whatever.

Other stuff
- air fresheners. Get different colors of felt and some posterboard or thin cardboard. The kids cut out a basic shape from the cardboard, glue on felt (hot glue or thick glue will work best, elmers won't work well at all). They cut out smaller shapes to decorate it. Then add a few drops of a scented oil. Punch a hole in the top tie with yarn. They can hang it in mom's car or in their room.

- snow globes- get small jars that seal well (like baby food jars) have the boys add glitter, metallic confetti, small plastic beads or shapes. Fill with water, screw on the top and have them decorate the lid and use colored tape around the jar lid's edge.

-Personal flags - Use fun foam sheets and the peal and stick shapes. They add the shapes to a sheet of fun foam to make their own flag. Punch 3-4 holes along one edge and thread it onto a bamboo plant stake or dowel.

I have a ton more ideas but maybe one of those will work

[zakfoxmom]

You all rock!!! Thank you! I am the least creative person on the planet. I am going to print this out and head to the craft store tomorrow. There is a huge Michael's by us. Thank you thank you. I will let you know what we end up doing.

[kat_0521]

Originally Posted by zakfoxmom

I have a fear of large crowds, so that does not sound fun. I do it anyway.

You're not alone there. I cannot stand being in large crowds. It's like being claustrophobic. I start having a panic attack and get trouble breathing. Then I start frantically looking for a way out so I can get some space. Usually I'm OK if I have a few feet of space around me. But in a crowded bar or at a concert?? No freakin' way!

Like Slap said, go get yourself some "alone time" whenever you feel like you need it. Hope everything goes well for you.

[suzilovespiggie]

Hope all goes well on Sat. I, too, am the worst craft person. Painting rocks sounds the easiest to me.
Keep us posted.

[zakfoxmom]

Ok, we are done!!! Woohoo! The party went very well. We did Chuckie Cheese on Friday night and I was pleased so see that it was not jammed packed. We got a good booth in the back and my husband and son went off to play most of the time. My husband started the party on Saturday while my mom and I picked up the food and cake. I ended up being so busy getting things organized and cleaning up that I didn't have to worry abou how many people were there.

As for the craft, I ended up getting those white hats that have the bring all the way around and some paints and pens for the kids to do. Here is a picture of Zachary's hat.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...3/HPIM0839.jpg

[Slap Maxwell]

What a great idea! I am glad you had a good time and didn't stress to much.