The road to hell is paved with good intentions — and so is the road to a hellish kiddie birthday party, as many a chastened parent has learned. Yet even experienced parents can, over time, forget what they should have remembered. So it was with a friend of mine, whose youngest child recently turned 5. The boy had been chattering excitedly for weeks about his birthday.
As his mother gazed at her darling, she thought: I want to give this little guy the best party ever. We can have it outdoors, in the sunshine! She imagined lots of little children galloping around her front lawn, with her son shouting joyfully in their midst. She imagined their sweet faces turned upward in song as she carried out a cake. She imagined how happy her boy would be to have such a party.
