One thing we Makices do well is throw a good theme party. Granted, it has been more difficult to do in recent years because (a) I’m little help in the organizing, thanks to grad school, and (b) our boys like to change their minds about birthday themes, believing it to be a game day decision. Archie turned four on Monday, and we had a little get-together in Bryan Park on Sunday. This time, the theme was the Flash.
The Flash had a rough year.
Although Archie refused to wear his own Flash costume to the event, Amy prepped with enough red and yellow decorations—including an awesome pair of cakes—to get the point across. Carter drew a picture of the Flash, and we planned to have the kids draw on white t-shirts to create their own superheroes. Learning lessons from the past, we opted for a lot of open play and sugar instead of structured activities. The one thing we did schedule, though, was a piñata.
Piñatas can be beautiful things. Nanna arranged to sneak a few of the boys’ comic encyclopedias to a professional and came back with a wonderful Flash, in full sprint. Amy filled it full of Smarties, Nerds and other treats, and then instructed me to get it ready. I found a nearby tree and struggled to get a ribbon up over a branch and tie the piñata to one end. I was proud of my handiwork until I took a step back and realized what was about to happen. By then, it was too late. The kids excitedly got in line. The older ones were a bit disappointed that we lined everyone up by height, to give the smaller children first crack. The stick started swinging.
And that’s how we spent Archie’s fourth birthday: Encouraging a bunch of preschool kids to take turns beating the crap out of a superhero hung from a tree until he was fully dismembered, his gut cracked open, and a mob was fighting over who gets to keep the head.
Happy birthday, son. To celebrate your life, we lynched the Flash.