A Karate Party
It’s funny how much can change in a year. Last year I said I wasn’t a fan of class parties, and this year they’re my favorite haha. Partly because they seem to be slipping away - I thought we’d have them through third or fourth grade. And maybe our class was an abnormally this year, but the parties were already splitting boys and girls, which obviously doesn’t work for us. We only had 2 invites to parties this year, and watching how sad it made E, and also seeing other parents stress about kids not showing up has moved my opinion towards one of, the more parties the better!
So with that in mind, we invited the whole class (although only 7 out of 17 came) and a few other friends we’ve made outside of the class. The result was a super fun group of kids, including a future classmate of G’s!
Going with the theme of the year - we decided to do a party at E’s karate studio. It’s where they feel most confident, and have some wonderful teachers who support them, so it was an easy choice. It also was so easy for us - the staff did everything. I don’t think I served a single child their lunch, or set up or cleaned up a thing. Before I could do anything, our bags had been unpacked and they were always a few steps ahead of me.
They also did such a good job entertaining the kids. They learned some karate skills, ran all around the room, and did multiple obstacle courses. The kids were also given (soft) swords to try and attack a teacher with, which obviously went over well. They also made E the center of attention - letting them go first with everything, breaking a board in front of their friends, and cutting the birthday cake with a sword!
We had an ice cream cake at the request of the birthday kid, as well as all the other birthday party staples - pizza and goody bags and lots of presents. It was super fun, and everyone was exhausted after. The mark of a good party!