The Thing About Surprise Parties

Is that, in order to protect the secret, you end up having to act like a Grimm stepmother for a while.

When your child comes to you for comfort, mentioning that because of a July family move, they’re a bit sad that they won’t be able to celebrate their August birthday with their friends, you can only reply, Don’t be silly, you’ll have your cousins there.

When they mention that they’d love to have one last “playdate” with friends, but some of them are not around very much, because of summer camp, and visits to fathers, etc., you can only reply, Oh well, we tried our best, the scheduling just didn’t work out.

Then, the day of the party rolls around. And you can see your baby smile again.


And all the cold-hearted acting is over. (Thank goodness!)