Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Mental Pictures From a Circus Party

The circus party has come and gone. As I look at the pictures from our party, I am reminded of blogs you read, were you see posts filled with perfect pictures, clean homes, well behaved, perfectly posed children and you are left thinking 1. wow, she has it all together or 2. what aren't they telling me, what's behind those too good to be true pictures.

Looking at the pictures of my party, I am shocked at the story they tell. The story of the well executed party. The cute decorations. The people smiling and having a good time.

The mental pictures I have of the party tell another story. My mental pictures answer the 'what's behind those too good to be true pictures'.  They can be summed up like this:

{12} balloon animals untwisted and used as weapons to attack our guests.  I did NOT see that coming.  See {9}.


{11} presents being openned, all at once, cards thrown to the side, papers up in the air.  All while {4} and {9} were taking place.  Mom, nearing a meltdown minutes after this picture was taken, is left to determine who gave what later.

Photo taken before present opening chaos broke out.

{10} minutes to extract a splinter out of a little girl's foot.  I wonder how that could have happened...



{9} the 4 and 5 year old brothers {that adds up to 9}, who had the presence of 10 kids.  Neighbors {whom we don't know other than the courtesy wave across the fence}, who that morning we extended the 'hey, why don't you stop over later' invite, who were jumping off the arm of my sofa as if it were a rocket launch, while their father said completely oblivious in our yard, trusting I was a competent babysitter and party hostess.

Yep...this sofa.

{8} pizzas ordered, none of which I had a chance to sit down and eat mainly because of {9}.


{7}, seventh, hottest day of the year.  I sweated through my $5 Goodwill dress I had scored in Febuary. 


{6} holes punched through the punch box before the party started.  Luckily my talented sister fixed all of them and no one was the wiser.


{5} hours before the party started, we found out the cotton candy machine we rented didn't work.  Yes we did have a cotton candy machine *which might explain {9} a bit better.


{4} kids having hurl yourself on the floor screaming tantrums as they were getting dragged out of the party {I happily would have left with any of those parents and let their kids stay in my place}.

I have mental pictures of the real deal, this is similar to how they looked {Grace age 2}.

{3} pairs of shoes left unclaimed at the end of the night.  That means, 3 kids left our party shoeless.



{2} people that asked what Up Right Step meant.  It's supposed to read:  Step Right Up.  I listened to the advice of my husband and arranged the words going up the stairs.  His logic was, you want them to step.right.up. 



{1} mom about to have a nervous breakdown, who will make a full recovery and  focus on the {1} birthday girl that smiled and laughed the entire day.


Actual pictures to come :) 

34 comments:

  1. Amy! I just peed my pants. Your post couldn't be more honest...and hilarious! It's way to true! But I bet your party was amazing! LOVE your dress too!

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  2. Oh Amy! I was hoping you'd "go there." ;)

    The only thing people like more than perfect party pictures is knowing that things weren't actually perfect.

    Despite it all you looked gorgeous in your dress, I love the steps, and of course you know how I feel about the punch box.

    Most importantly, I know that Grace's "mental pictures" are certainly far nicer than yours--full of big top magic--what a lucky little girl to have a mom like you!

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  3. Oh you are hilarious!! This was so much fun to read and so very much the way most kids birthday parties go!! Thanks for the morning laugh and the honesty!

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  4. LOVE your regaling of the party! Great post! B.T.W. You looked gorgeous!

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  5. LOL! Amy you crack me up... love the countdown! On a more serious note... sorry that the party didn't go as planned. It is always difficult with the little ones. I always wonder about those other parties that show all these "perfect" children and wonder "how?!" When I take pictures, I try to capture those "good" rare moments with the kiddies... so maybe that's what all the other parties are doing! I love how you shared with us the chaos... the reality of kiddy parties! I think the next time we have a family kiddy party, I'm going to do the same. Why not remember those moments too;) Besides, we need some proof for the kiddies when they get older, don't we? We don't want them thinking that they were these perfect little angels;P Can't wait to see pics of the party!

    ps In regards to the "Step Right Up"... that's how I've seen it done.. backwards. First time I've ever seen it done that way, I did read it backwards too..LOL! BUT you did it right despite everyone reading it wrong:D

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  6. oh.. p.s.s. I agree you did look gorgeous!! Love the dress!! I remember that post... that's when we first met:D

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  7. I laughed out loud reading THIS post! First, you're dress is adorable! I'm sure all of the kids are oblivious to all of the chaos that ensued! How did three kids leave shoe-less?? Hahahahaha....

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  8. What a wonderful and refreshing post!!! thanks so much dear Amy for sharing this. I can so relate to it :-)
    in hindsight the party might take on a rosy glow, and at least your daughter had fun. AND you look so lovely in your gorgeous dress!
    xxx
    btw, what i realized with most perfect party pics on blogs, they only show the 'before' of the wonderfully arranged food, presents and decorations. hardly ever any 'action shots' of parties :-)

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  9. Despite all the chaos mama, you looked quite cute rockin' your goodwill find! *love* And as far as the perfect family, kids, home, pictures etc....thanks for keepin' it real and showing a true representation of a life with kids! No ones life is perfect... not even with the help of photoshop!

    PS....I spy some pillows that need to grace my sofa!

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  10. Honest to goodness, I can always count on you for the hilarious truth of the matter. You're going to hate me, but I agree with your husband on how the steps should read. Makes sense. I LOVE your dress and you look amazing in it! The birthday girl looks like she had a fab time and like you said "that's what counts".

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  11. LOL!!! I agree with the other comments - Grace's mental images are surely far different than yours. {1} birthday girl that smiled and laughed the entire day = birthday success.
    You clearly love your daughter and that makes you an awesome mom!

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  12. haha, this post is awesome! Kid parties sound fun, but so stressful too! I still have a few years before I'll get into those luckily. Looks like things went well though!

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  13. What a cute dress you had! I love the whole post, it's so funny and so honest, especially the kids that are the terrors of the party and their clueless parents!

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    1. Thanks so much Patricia. I have finally recovered. Nervous breakdown successfully avoided. AND, I can now laugh about the days events.

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  14. I seriously just laughed out loud on each post! Love your dress! That punch box is awesome...and the step right up was so funny...seriously people?? You are the best, Amy! You always make me laugh.

    Megan

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  15. Sweet pictures! Awesome find! Great blog hun, come by and let's follow each other! Stay in touch ;) xx

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  16. He he - for what it's worth - I got the 'step right up' message - the 'awkward shots' are excellent; can't wait to see the 'perfect' ones!! x

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  17. I LOVE your dress! I cannot believe you found that at goodwill! what a find:) Sounds to me like a smashing success - no pun intended! (poor sofa)

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  18. Great dress, what a score! I laughed at the thought of 3 parents going "I don't care if we can't find your shoes, get in the car!", LOL

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  19. GREAT post!! LOL!!! I love love your dress...what an awesome find!! Everyone looks like they had an amazing time!! I cannot wait to hear more about it:)

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  20. Love this post Amy - you added a lot of humor to the day which i am sure was an overall success (awesome party ideas!) but as you mentioned there are always those crazy moments too! You survived the two beastie-boys!! You look so cute in your dress, girlie! Yes, what's up with the leftover shoes after a kiddie party??? That happened to me several times too! It's like seeing that one shoe on the side of the road...strange! Heather :)

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  21. baaaaahaha, Amy i KNOW it WASNT funny, but i couldnt help but LOL & the hubs passed through asking "whats so funny?"..lol. bless ur heart! well nervous meltdown or even tantruming kiddos, u still ROCKED that dress & u guys looked GORGEOUS! Hope all has been well & sorry ive been MIA, man i've missed out on a BUNCH! the house is slowly coming together, its had me in tears at points, BUT we r making it! lol ttys & post pics too!
    -Carrie Eve.

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    1. Thanks so much Carrie. I am SO glad people are responding with lots of laughs to this post, it makes it seem all worthwhile :). Glad to see you are back and look forward to diving into some new posts on your blog soon!

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  22. Amy that was just tooo funny... Talk about keeping it real... what a hoot... you poor thing.... but what a wonderful story to tell..Gotta love it ....I will laughing through the whole post... that beat any David Letterman Top Ten Posts....lol

    Carri

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  23. What a FUN party! Grace is one lucky birthday girl! And you are rockin' that dress!

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  24. Haha, I love this! I always look at party photos and think "Man, there's no way my parties would turn out that way, they'll just fall apart and things will be crazy!" It's nice to see the "real" stuff behind the "perfect" photos, so thanks for linking these up to The Fun In Functional!

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  25. Oh my--glad you survived!
    We had a party for my 7 year old daughter last year at Chuck E Cheese (and she invited girls from her class)
    She told a 10 year old boy about it on her bus...and his dad brought him--and his 8 year old sister to the party! (Luckily he bought a few tokens for them before leaving) And luckily I had enough brownie pops. Weirdest thing!

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  26. Great post! Thanks so much for sharing at Terrific Tuesdays.
    Rachel
    adventuresofadiymom.blogspot.com

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  27. OMG! You are brave! Looks like a great party!
    Thanks for linking up to the All Star Block Party!

    Holly

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  28. Loved your countdown of the perfectly imperfect party -- could relate to almost every one! Still it sounds like a very successful venture - the birthday girl smiled and laughed all day and mom was in a gorgeous dress! Thanks so much for sharing on Busy Monday at A Pinch of Joy. Hope to see you again soon!

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  29. seriously...if shoes are left behind...that means the party was a SUCCESS! It's the mental fatigue on why I stepped away from the backyard blowout this year...I did it last year, and it was a BLAST - kids loved it...but I was knocked out for a few days afterwards! I just didn't have it in me this year. But in the end...you gave your daughter a party she will always remember...the tantrums will be forgotten, and the thrill of a circus for her 4th birthday will be an everlasting memory!

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  30. I almost forgot...that dress! What a fantastic find!!

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  31. Popping over from Silo Hill Farm. This is hilarious. You poor thing. Aren't all kids parties like this?

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  32. this is the most awesome post birthday recap EVER!!!!!!!!! I was dying laughing at the crazy neighbor boys and how you kept referring back to them.

    You did an amazing job on the party!

    :)

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