Party planning

K is turning four in a few weeks.

I remember holding him right after he was born and realizing, "I'M his MOTHER." Since then, whenever I catch myself doing something stereotypically parental, I have similar moments but without the disbelief. Like last weekend when I first uttered the words, "No running with scissors." Or this morning when I filled out the party invitations for each kid in his class.

I thought we'd have a small party with family and a few friends, like last year. But the grandparents all have other plans the weekend before K's birthday (the nerve of them, having their own lives!) and I didn't want to schedule anything for the weekend after because it's so close to my due date. I'll probably be exhausted and I don't want to drag our parents all the way to Boston twice in a potentially short time. 

Anyway, after going to a classmate's party a few months ago, K has been asking about having a party of his own with his friends from school. He'll get his wish -- our party will be pretty much identical, with most of the same kids, at the same indoor playground in our town, except the pizza will be from a different place and the princess theme will be replaced by trucks or monsters. It feels like an awful lot of money to spend for a toddler party, but I don't want a dozen toddlers running around my house and a public park isn't an option during winter in New England. 

So, we'll have to arrange lunch and cake and balloons and goody bags, and coordinate RSVPs. Plus cupcakes for school on Monday, even though it'll be the same group of kids that attend the party. For the actual day of his birthday, I got him some new books, a little rocket launcher with a book about rockets, and a board game he's been asking for. I also got him a more elaborate gift, a toddler digital camera, but we'll save that for when he visits the hospital to meet his new baby brother. I'm hoping to take the day off on his actual birthday and hang out with him all day, maybe take him out to the Children's Museum like last year and have dinner at his favorite restaurant. We'll see if work and pregnancy cooperate.