Best. Birthday. Party. Ever.

My little one turned four this past week, and after all the hullabaloo surrounding the birth of my nephew, I hadn’t had much time to contemplate a birthday party. So I decided to cut my losses and schedule the party at the new local MyGym. It wasn’t as economical as doing it myself (last year, we did cupcake decorating at home, a messy but successful endeavor), but I decided to splurge. With this being the first year that my daughter was in a preschool classroom, I wanted to include her whole class, and I just couldn’t handle 20 4-year-olds in my kitchen. Enough with the excuses though; it was the best money I’ve spent in a long time.

We arrived a mere 15 minutes before the party’s scheduled start at 4:45pm. There was a big, beautiful sign right out front that read “Happy Birthday Mira!” and the tables were already laid with tablecloths, plates and napkins. There was literally nothing to do but set up the cake. Our hosts were two wildly energetic college guys who were, even at the end of the day, well up to the task of corralling and entertaining the rambunctious group. The kids had an absolute blast, and I barely lifted a finger, except to take pictures, and then cut and serve the cake – which they would have been happy to do, too. When the party was done, I started to help clean up, and they shooed me away. Unbelievable.

There’s a very small part of me that feels guilty. But then I remember that I crafted the party invitations myself, and my husband and I baked her cake. From scratch. So I guess there’s a little Martha Stewart in all of us, even if we don’t always go the whole nine yards.

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