It Takes A Village

I have never read Hillary Clinton’s book entitled It Takes A Village, but understand that the premise is that an entire community is required to raise children. I don’t know about that, but after this weekend, I’m convinced that it takes a village to host a six-year-old’s birthday party.

And I’m afraid that I’m the village idiot.

I’m a planner. I love to organize events and get completely consumed by the smallest details, making list after list to ensure I haven’t forgotten anything. This time was no exception. Our daughter and I decided on a theme – Hannah Montana – back in December and I began looking online for everything from invitations to party favors to ideas for games and activities. Within a few weeks, the plan was finalized and all of the supplies were in place.

And then the kids showed up.

At 2:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon, 13 excited, enthusiastic kindergarten girls arrived at our house ready to rock. They were decked out in Hannah Montana outfits and began immediately jumping up and down and singing wildly to the Hannah Montana music we had blaring from the boombox.

All 13 girls were incredibly cute and sweet and participated in the planned activities, which included musical chairs (to Hannah Montana music, of course), a relay where the girls had to pull items out of a shopping bag and put them on to look like Hannah Montana (a wig, bracelet, microphone, etc.), and party pics with a life-sized Hannah Montana cardboard cutout. The problem was that once the girls were finished with their part of an activity, they were on to something else – and needed to be retrieved by a member of the village I had failed to assemble before the entire celebration turned into a chaotic free-for-all.

Fortunately, I had a secret weapon. Grand-Mama Llama (my Mama Llama) was in town from Oklahoma for her granddaughter’s birthday. She is GREAT with kids, having spent a lifetime teaching and earning a legendary reputation as an educator. She’s also an expert at herding cats, which came in quite handy on Saturday.

When the activities I had planned to fill two hours only took one hour and 15 minutes (who knew the little llamas could eat that fast or rip through packages in record speed?!?), Grand-Mama Llama took control of the situation and got the kids to sit and play another impromptu game. Then she took them to the playroom for “free play” – which the girls enjoyed as much as the rest of the party since kids today are seldom allowed to just PLAY without structure.

The end result was good. The party guests seemed to have a great time and, most importantly, the birthday girl thought the party was a big hit. I STILL have a Hannah Montana-induced headache two days later, but it’s not about me…

Next year, I’ll know to get my village in place early, with Grand-Mama Llama leading the charge of able-bodied, rested volunteers. Maybe we can call ourselves The Village People and have a disco theme. “YMCA” anyone?!?