Over the ant hill — Ethan turns the big 0-5

Turning five is a big deal. Much bigger than turning 4 was. And Ethan is starting to have some strong opinions about things. He really wanted to invite his whole class to his party again (which we did), and he wanted to have it at the Nature Museum (which we originally suggested, but then nixed because of the cost — who knew it would cost $475 to host a party there?).

Fortunately, we were able to find a place that would accommodate his whole class (most cut off at 15 or 20 kids, if his class and his neighborhood friends all came, we'd be at 25 kids) without breaking the bank.

Ethan and his friends enjoying the goodies at his party:



One of my biggest peeves about kids’ birthday parties (other than how expensive they’ve gotten) is that you end up with so many new toys and things. And at 5, most kids still don’t have a good idea of what their classmates might really want (although they’re getting there), which means you also end up with some really neat presents that will never be used.

We already have a full house and Ethan has way more toys than he can play with. So this year, we decided to try something different and held a birthday party for charity. Rather than kids bringing presents for Ethan, we asked that they bring either toys or clothes for a group called New Moms. The gifts would go to children who might not otherwise get something nice like that, and we wouldn’t have to find space for 25 new gifts.

In exchange, we offered Ethan $50 to buy one or two bigger (as in more expensive, rather than taking up more space) presents that he really wanted. Why $50? Well, he’s had his eye on a very expensive peacock puppet for months now. How expensive? You guessed it — $50.

It took a while to convince Ethan this was a good thing to agree to, but in the end he was happy with the arrangements. And John said when he and Ethan took the presents over to New Moms and got the tour and talked to the woman who runs the program, Ethan was very happy. He even got to see pictures of some of the kids who would be getting a present because of his birthday.

The party was a huge, crazy, loud, boisterous success and a good time was had by all — except at one point by Ethan. He got a little overwhelmed by the noise and chaos, and we had to spend some time in a (relatively) quiet corner to calm down. And that gave me an opportunity to suggest that next year, we have a smaller party that won't be as noisy.

Ethan's birthday breakfast, opening presents, and riding his new scooter: