Eilis is a tough nut to crack when it comes to some things. One of them is deciding what kind of birthday party to have.
She wanted a sleepover, but at 10, there are still quite a few kids who haven’t done the sleepover thing yet. I worried she’d have a poorly attended party, and that I’d be stuck trying to come up with stuff to do for 10 year olds that are homesick, sleep deprived, and on a sugar high from the sleepover snacks.
We compromised. I asked her to choose a location for a regular, mom doesn’t have to prep or clean party, and then anyone who wanted to come back and sleep over was welcome to!
I think it was a homerun 🙂
We ended up celebrating at the Treehouse Coffee Shop in Audubon, NJ. If you haven’t been – GO. Seriously, the couple that owns this local coffee shop could not be more fantastic (with a son that is so sweet, you don’t even need to put sugar in your coffee! Think of the calories you’ll save by grabbing your coffee here!). They put out an awesome buffet – and I think it’s one of the first kids’ parties I’ve had where the kids actually wanted to eat – of course, they were exhausted from dancing, so that might have been an excuse to sit down. And Eilis was so worried that no one would drink the Italian sodas – but the kids seemed to love going up to the counter and ordering their custom drinks!
And my biggest fear of all – the one where no one danced, and they all just sat and stared at each other for two and a half hours – guess what? It didn’t happen! They danced – pretty much every kid, across the board, danced most of the evening!
So the end result was a night that the kids enjoyed; I didn’t have to clean up from (well, except some of the sleepover mess); everyone ate; everyone drank; no one slept – but that’s kinda their moms’ problems today. No one cried to go home; no one got homesick; and there were even kids who, as exhausted as they must be, didn’t want to go home this morning.
Happy Birthday, Eilis! I hope it’s one you remember for a long time 🙂
Oh – and visit the Treehouse. Randy and Tina, we love you guys for hosting such an awesome party!