Party Planning 101 - Dutch Style

So, now, onto the Party Planning phase of Mission:Impossible - Birthday Edition. This was originally one really loooong post together with the countdown clock, but I decided to break into smaller posts before a reader's eyes started to bleed :-)

When it came to planning where and what the party should be this year, we based on recent experiences he really semeed to enjoy, something we could do with between 10 and 12 children, and something that, with any luck, I could enourage the parents to stick around for, becuase who really wants sole responsibility for tweleve 5 year old boys?

The fun he had with Bowling during the Christmas break meant he wanted to have a bowling party for this birthday, in the theme of everything Cars - Lightening Mc Queen, to be exact. At first, it was Spiderman (again), then it was SpongeBob (who Kev loves (from his dad) but is not so popular over here yet), and finally we settled on the ever cool, always a hit with 5-7 year old boys, Cars. it also ticked all of mom's boxes (see above) so, I figured we were good to go!

With that settled, Mom has spent the better part of two weeks searching websites both here and in the US (love Ebay for things like this!) for all things Cars. So far, I've found the favors for both the class party and the bowling party attendees, the balloons, the invites, and someone to make about 70 cupcakes for the different parties (easier to transport and share than a cake, and no fights over corner or 'small' pieces!

I'm outsourcing the cupcakes because as much as I love to bake, 70 cupcakes is beyond my capabilities during a work week. I'll package them nicely and with some creativity (I'll post pictures later) but the actual baking would just be overwhelming on top of the parties and gifts and the invites.

Class parties over here are so...creative. There are home made gifts, made to look like other things (think paper ducks whose wings are chocolate egg holders, elaborate things made out of pipe cleaners……you get the idea? Then there are the funny handcrafted bags to put everything in...maybe it is for a lower costs overall (as a Dutch pastime seems to be to compare relative cheapness of things with pride – “this, oh it took only 5 hours and 49 cents to make!), but unless there are some bulk methods to buying craft items I haven’t yet stumbled across here after 13 years, it's never as cheap as they say when you try to replicate it!!

The materials that go into crafty handmade things aren’t exactly cheap over here (there are no large craft stores, or malls or anything like that in most towns, and then you've got to figure in the time it takes to make 50-70 of anything.

There aren't enough hours in the day for this mom, I'm sorry to say. I love to be creative, but that's just too big a scale for me. Those are the moments I feel very fish out of water with the more traditional Dutch moms who work 2-3 days a week and have time for these kinds of activities. At birthday time, I'm jealous, and wish I could do more 'from scratch'. Oh well... Maybe I need a hobby room like Holly's! - I should put in a request for an attic conversion, hmmm.......

You wouldn't think 12 invites would be a big deal - I didn't, but then I got the invites and realized they were completely blank! That means a lot of handwriting, in Dutch! The Dutch part is what takes forever, then add on Kevin's wanting to 'help' by writing his name in each invite, and mom's bright idea to add confetti and a balloon to each invite, then realize I was out of stamps and needed to order/buy some (because otherwise I'm trusting one almost 5 year old to deliver something to another 4 or 5 year old, and they in turn have to get it home to mom and dad), and before I knew it, 12 invites had turned into a worthy part of a blog post.

I'm also carrying on the tradition this year of the b-day shirt. Every year, I've gotten something for everyone who comes to his parties to sign. For the first b-day, it was the autograph bear with birthday cupcake from Build-a-Bear, and each year since, I've gotten a personalized t-shirt in the theme of the party that all the kids (and parents) can sign. This way he has something fun to wear on the day once everyone has signed it, and later he'll have something to look back at as his friends change (or don't).

So, with 29 nights to go, and the invites to 12 kids and their parents out........now I have to think about what my present will be...I'm tempted to go easy this year while I still can and do the party, let 1 or 2 friends stay over, and call it good. I think between Dad, Oma and Opa's, and the friends who come to the party, he'll be more than covered gift wise, and a party for 12, plus the class party for 30 has to be paid for somehow, and it's all mom as far as planning and invested time goes..... What do you guys think - can a party be considered a gift?

Leave a comment and ease my guilt, or let me know if I'll be scarring him for life if there isn't a package in the pile with my name on it.

I'll re-visit in March with pics and party stories, promise!

Winter Wonderland

We're in the middle of a winter wonderland here in The Netherlands...... since about a week before Christmas, it's been snowy, freezing and everytime the snow melts away, there comes in a day or two a fresh layer. Both this year and last year the man made lake our balcony is out on was a big hockey/skating rink....a hot topic of discussion here is if there is still time to have the first elfstedentocht (eleven city tour) since 1997 this year. This week, the temps are supposed to plummet, staying between -2 and plus 2 during the day,a nd dropping to -10 at night....that's supposed to be 'great' for the natural ice and chances for skating...not so great if you're already almost 2 weeks into a head cold!

In the middle of the deep freeze early in January, a whole crew of dads and older brothers shoveled the snow off the lake to make a skating rink. I loved the view and watching all the winter activity from my warm, dry living room! :-) (I'm not sure what it says about me that one of my first thoughts was "a kid could make a killing here selling hot chocolate off the balcony). Kev's not yet old enough for his first lemonade (or hot choclate) stand, but Mom's filing that one away for future use!

During the last week, there was the first day that there was no snow or ice left on the roads near the house, or the sidewalks. The lake just melted, and all the snow piles had just just about melted before the snow started again at the start of this week - so it's not over yet, but a solid 6 weeks snow and ice in a country where they are not prepared for it at all has been pretty challenging. I've managed a personal best and only slipped and fallen twice - but it was on the same day and both times outside Kev's school.

Last week Monday, the commute into work due to snowfall took a record 2 hours and 15 minutes to drive 50 kilometers (say 30 miles). it also landed number 10 on the list of worst traffic jams ever, with over 500 kilometers of traffic jams around the country. Crazy!

Kevin has really enjoyed the snowy winter so far, and got his first pair of adjustable ice skates (double bladed for stability) for Christmas. He's been skating on an indoor rink twice during the school break, with use of a kind of walker-like device to keep him standing. During the Christmas break, we went bowling, skating, to the movie theatre, a pancake restuarant, had a play date and played a lot with his race track that he asked Santa for - so much so that one of the cars had to be replaced already, but he's figured out how to do the upside down loop withour flying out of the next corner.

On New Year's, I had my first preview of how the new neighboorhood celebrates New Year's. New Year's Eve is NL's 4th of July (and then some) as far as fireworks go, and I was amazed at how many fireworks there were starting from 10pm. Here private people can buy professional level fireworks.....In this short video, taken a bit after midnight, you get the idea.....these were all private households nearby! The height was the first 10 mins of the New Year. Next year, I'll know to have my camera ready, but even so, I found this pretty impressive!

Next year, I know where I'll be spending New Year's.....with a free show like this courtesy of the neighbors :-)...amd I can watch it all from the couch....this was the view from inside my living room. When you see this video, it's not hard to belive that the spend on fireworks this New Years was something like 65 million euros (!)

There's also been opportunities to build a snowman with his dad, and get pulled on a sleigh by dad.......Not that he really enjoys it or anything! :-)

Here is a few more from our collection of winter 2009-2010 photos....enjoy!

This was the skating rink the neighborhood dad's made on a Saturday morning...and what it looked like a 4pm as the light was starting to go.

And the skating continued the next day, but the wind made it really cold...no-one was out there much longer than 30 minutes at a time, but it seemed like most people were from the houses nearby, so the came back throughout the day. This was the view from the living room.

Of course, Kevin did make it out there, but he found it too cold (and a little bit scary, considering the he knows it's a lake filled with water most of the year), so after the obligatory 30 mins, we were back inside, drinking hot chocolate and watching the kids play hockey.

After a day of outdoor play in the fresh air, there is nothing quite like a warm bath, footie pj's (from Oma & Opa for Christmas) and a photo op!

B-day Countdown Clock

I think this is universal to moms everywhere, but the only way to measure time as far as Little Man is concerned is 'How many more night do I have to sleep until......?"

We used this to great effect when Oma and Vivi came to visit this last summer, but then it was with the visual help of a paper chain - we took one chain link away each night before bed, and then he could count the links left. It's amazing to me that in the 7 months or so since, his countdowns are now more or less in his head. I have to set the base line number (90, or 40 or whatever) and then he pretty much keeps track from there, and will then tell me every night after ' did you know there are only so many more nights till..........'

He gets occasionally caught up when he's been 3 or 4 nights with his dad, and hasn't done the countdown in the in-between days, so we'll have to reset the count.....but overall, he's pretty spot on, and understand the concept that the closer something is, the less nights there are till it happens. I bring this all up because the countdown we are in the middle of now is '29-more-nights-till-the big-5-and -31-till-the-party-countdown.

So, in that spirit, and since Kevin lately has taken to asking if he can see 'his pictures on mommy's computer that are for Oma' (also known as 'the blog'), here is his very own Birthday Countdown Clock:


Birthday-Countdowns