Liam's Birthday Paaarrrrty

Liam requested a pirate themed birthday party, so that's what we did. The treasure map led his band of scalawags to Blackbeard's Baarrber Shop, where they were completely uninterested in the activity I had planned: drawing on mustaches and beards. This set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. Guess what? Six-year-old pirates don't want to pretend and do crafts. They want to bash each other with toy swords. (I did not supply the swords, by the way, and in retrospect should have specified on the invitation that BYOS was forbidden.) And when they're done with that, they want to eat a lot of cake, and bash each other with swords some more.

I have two sons, so you'd think I would be used to boys, but I haven't spent a lot of time with gangs of them. The energy level is amazing. And frankly, I was shocked at how little respect I got by virtue of being an adult. I expected them to get into some mischief, and I wasn't surprised or particularly upset when they stuffed the mailbox full of leaves. That falls into the "boys will be boys" category right? But one kid was outright defiant to me, twice. (And he's a great kid, so please don't judge him by this one incident.) I was unprepared for that kind of behavior and didn't know how to react. I basically ignored it, and both times he ended up complying, so maybe he was doing it for attention. But if he was testing me, if it was some kind of power thing, I wonder if I ought to have confronted him, and firmly let him know it was not okay to behave that way? Should I talk to his parents about this? It's a small thing, but it made me realize how clueless I am in navigating playdates and supervising my kids' friends.

Which leads me to Michelle, a friend with no kids of her own, who volunteered to help me with the party. She is a saint. The kids loved her - okay they loved bashing her with their swords - and she pretty much saved my life.

Now for the pictures...

The Dread Pirate Cheek-Mustache

This cake doesn't look as awesome as some of the others, but it was probably the hardest I've made, because of crumb control issues. I did think the ladder up to the crow's nest was a nice touch. (Made from a net bag for oranges.)

Pirate Tin-Tooth Timmy

Liam. He's six. Unbelievable.

Jaiden

Izzy

Jack. Aaarrr!