Category Archives: birthdays

How to Host a Kid’s Pirate Party on a Budget

January 26, 2009birthday cakes, birthdays, summerKirsetin

My son has a summer birthday, which has its advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, the weather usually cooperates and we can be outside. With a slew of boys, this is always good. On the other hand, he never gets to hear his class sing “Happy Birthday,” a fact he learned to capitalize on quite early.

Perhaps because his birthday isn’t celebrated at school, we always have a party. However, we haven’t always had the funds—or the inclination—to turn the celebration of another year of life into a pricey affair complete with a scary clown and the moon bounce. Nonetheless, we want his parties to be fun, and memorable.

To this end, when he turned 5 we sent his friends invitations to a treasure hunt. Ahoy, Matey, there’s treasure involved!

The inexpensive fun included:

A tattoo for everyone upon arrival
A pirate hat (homemade, with construction paper)
The homemade cake you see above
Games:

Hot “treasure” (hot potato, with a bag of “gold”) My husband still mocks this game.

Pirate-Pirate-Gold (duck duck goose) Okay, he mocks this one, too.
Pirate tag (tag)
Walk the plank (basically, a very low balance beam made from some wood in our garage)

If these sound completely lame, think again. That’s because you’re all grown up. The kids totally loved this!

But they especially enjoyed finding the clues that led to the treasure—a big gold box (thanks to the magic of spray paint) filled with their goody bags.

After the cake and ice cream, they went after the bad guy (dad) with their balloon swords, sugared up and full of energy just in time for their parents to take them home.

Now that’s what I call a successful party, on a family-friendly budget. Ahoy, indeed!

How to Get Your Kids to Write Thank-You Notes

January 21, 2009birthdays, etiquette, kidsKirsetin

We’re more than halfway through January, and I’m embarrassed admit that my children haven’t finished writing their thank-you notes for Christmas. Yikes! How did this happen? We have litany of reasons, of course: the looong drive home from visiting family (too tired), the quick return to school (too much homework), and basketball and soccer practice (too busy). But the truth is that these aren’t reasons; they’re simply excuses. Having kids write thank-you notes means parents need to be present, and I haven’t been. My own calendar’s been chock-full and in the evening I look forward to winding down with a lovely glass of Merlot. Relaxing in my favorite chair doesn’t include helping kids say “thank you”.

But we’re buckling down, now. We’re getting to it. We’ll mail the notes by the 25^th if I have to run a sweat shop here.

I don’t know what Emily Post has to say—probably that letting a whole month go by is akin to sticking your tongue out at the kindness of the gift givers—but I feel better knowing that we’ve got them in under the wire. One month is better than two, right?

This year we’re more behind than usual, which is probably why I’m feeling the stress. Generally, we don’t let it go this long. But since I don’t know any kids who clamor to write them, and I haven’t been on my parenting-with-manners game, the time has slipped by. If your kids are among the few who graciously grab the pencil and hop to it, count your blessings. For the rest of us, here are a few suggestions to help get the thank-you ball rolling:

Stuff their stocking. Every year, along with random miscellany from Target and a deep red pomegranate, my children find thank-you notes in their stockings. They also get them for birthday gifts—and there are usually just enough to get through the current gift-getting occasion!

Break out the glitter and markers. It’s the old “skin in the game” idea. When kids help create their own thank-you cards, it’s more fun to send them. You have several options here. The most inexpensive is to simply take some paper out of your printer, fold it in half, and let them express their creativity on the cover. Craft stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby also sell blank note cards that kids can decorate to their hearts. For the past few years, my kids have drawn a picture that we’ve sent to Original Works to create cool note cards. Any way you do it accomplishes your goal: they’re invested.

Show, don’t tell. One year my son was complaining, endlessly, about the time it takes to write thank-you notes. I’d had enough. The next time he was invited to a birthday party, I put my plan into action. We checked the clock. He did some chores and earned some money. It took quite awhile, and he didn’t earn much. We checked the time again, and then we drove to the toy store. We wrote down the prices of games and toys he liked. We calculated how long it would take to earn a gift that cool, how long it took to drive to the store, and how long it took to look around and select something he wanted to give. Don’t forget about the time to wrap the gift! We talked about how every single gift he receives takes time and money and effort. He got it. The old adages are true: Seeing is Believing and Actions Speak Louder Than Words. Worked like a charm.

Make it easy. If your kids are like mine, too many gifts come through the door for any given occasion. Rather than sitting down to thank everyone at once, set a few “writing appointments” throughout the day or week. My 6-year old can handle one or two notes at a time. My older boys, at 9 and 12, can do many more. But asking kids of any age to write 8 or 9 notes at a time is a deal-breaker for encouraging gratitude.

Talk about it. Showing thankfulness doesn’t always come naturally. Some extremely verbal children can write a note that sounds like they copped it from Miss Manners herself. Other kids struggle to get past “Dear Auntie Jo.” Before they pick up their pencil, talk to your kids about which gift they’re writing about. Help them think of one or two things they really like about that gift, so they can describe it in their own words. Most children aren’t likely to add a conversational ending, so give them a few suggestions: I enjoyed seeing you at Christmas; I hope to see you soon; I had a lot of fun at my birthday party; etc. A kind one-liner before they sign off can add a much-needed sentence and help them develop better note-writing skills.

Go Digital. Take a photo of your child wearing the pants, building the Legos or shooting the Nerf gun. Your child can keep a copy for their room or scrapbook, and include one with their note.

Bribery. Hey, who doesn’t like a few M&Ms for a job well done? Thank-you notes completed without complaint deserve a little snack. Enjoy it, kids, and thank you for demonstrating gratitude.

Brett Favre: My Second Favorite QB

October 10, 2008birthdays, kids, sportsKirsetin

Now I know that lots of you want to talk about shopping (I heard the Gap Outlet has some very good deals right now) or politics (hmmm, silence for now), or love (didn’t you see the handsome pictures of my husband yesterday), but I am here to talk about something much more important.

Well, first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my husband. Because, of course, that’s most important.

But I digress. Since our son was two years old, the child has loved football. This love is something I don’t entirely understand, although I am passionate about other things, so I suppose I recognize his enthusiasm. But how a three-year old can sit and watch an entire NFL game, and actually learn things, this I don’t get. He didn’t get it from me, surely, and not from his dad, either. My husband likes football, but he’s no lazy-all-weekend in the armchair quarterback kind of guy. So we raise this boy, this boy who absolutely loves this game, and this year, he got to play quarterback. And he loves it.

But unfortunately, his favorite NFL QB no longer plays for his favorite team. The guy he’s cheered for since he learned about this game up and left the Packers, in a much ballyhooed departure, and is playing for the Jets.

(Photos from better days.)

Despite the heartache, my boy has remained a staunch Packers fan. Just the other day he told me, “Mom, you’re a little too angry about Brett Favre.” He’s right. Good thing kids have perspective these days.

I know it’s controversial (hey, at least I’m not talkin’ about Palin here, you betcha), but I think the Packers made a bad call on this one. Brett’s given an awful lot to the game of football, and if he had another year in him, I think they should’ve cheered him on to the end. Clearly, the coaching staff missed my note on that one. Darn. And I thought I explained it so nicely.

Yesterday, in the NY Times, Greg Bishop wrote a wonderful article about “The Brett Favre Backup Club,” the 18 men who played backup QB to Brett during his 17 years with the Packers. To a man, they all said good things about our favorite player, even though they didn’t see much time on the field playing behind Brett Favre. But what I most appreciated in the article was something I already knew: that, despite his waffling about retirement, Brett’s a good guy. When Hasselbeck came to the team as a backup QB ten years ago, Brett Favre was already on his way to being the big-time player he is today. Greg Bishop interviewed Hasslebeck about what it was like to meet Brett, and in his article, he writes,

“At their first meeting, Favre turned to Hasselbeck and said, “Hi, I’m Brett.” “He introduced himself as if I didn’t know who he was,” Hasselbeck said. “I had this image, from the quarterbacks I had been around, of this QB attitude. Brett was normal.”

Seeing him in a Jets uniform is anything but. I’m not posting any pictures of that.

Next time, no football, I promise. Maybe shopping, or politics, or love… Stay tuned.

And if any of you have thoughts on this, I’d love to hear them. Am I crazy? Am I right? (Oh, come on, you know I am!) Check the team stats: bet the Packers are having second thoughts now!

One last thing: Happy Birthday to you, too, Brett Favre.