One of the great things about being a parent is throwing a party for your child. One of the most frustrating things about being a parent is throwing a party for your child. That’s where I’ve been lately.
Two years ago, it was a pirate birthday for Carter’s 4th. We created some crumpled-up maps that led kids on a trail to a treasure. I said “Arggh” and “Ayyye” a lot, wore an eye patch and was a big hit. Last year, it was pirate bowling (don’t ask). We wore pirate do-rags and looked like a family of hippie bikers mixing with all the regular bowlers who didn’t have a 5-year-old son. Despite Carter’s having charted out his next 15 birthday themes, we audibled about a month ago when he (re)discovered Danny Dunn. So yesterday, we had the Mad Scientist Birthday Party for Carter’s sixth.
I’ve had full-time jobs that have been less taxing. We secured space in a largely unused wing of department offices, and we gathered materials for about 20 or so demonstrations of cool science. By T-minus-24 hours, we scaled it back somewhat, and by the time the party ended, probably only half of what we planned actually worked. I was up until 6:30a the morning up doing nothing but Mad Sciencstry. Throw in a short visit to a Chinese New Years party (Thanks, Jeff and Shaowen), and I feel as though finals week came early.
The good time had by all was only possible because of those around us who helped out, from the five Informaticists (Apurva, Josh, Breanne, Kynthia and Marty) — who played the role of the crazy scientists and manned the labs where the kids explored — to the relatives and friends who helped make food and shuttle supplies up 11 floors.
