Party Planning 101 and 102 and 103….

Mommies all do what we have to do to make situations work. I call it Mommy Marketing. It’s the spin I put on events or situations to sell the kids on the idea. It could be pitching broccoli as mini trees and convincing the kids that giraffes everywhere would steal it right off their plate or telling them they are lucky to go with you to the DMV because it’s a special mommy and daddy place and race car drivers have to go there too.

Despite the fact that Steven and I were excited to move to Hong Kong, the kids weren’t convinced and I knew that I would have to present my biggest marketing campaign yet. We talked up the fact that Hong Kong has a Disneyland and Ocean Park; that they would get bunk beds and a 5th birthday party. Now most parents call this bribing, but basic bribery doesn’t capture the whole sales pitch involved.

Well Steven delivered on the bunk beds. Now it was my turn to deliver the party. Easy Peasy – I just booked the American club right across the street. After a couple of weeks of requesting information, I realized the club’s cheapest option would cost about the same as a small wedding. Panicked, I searched for other options. The problem with Hong Kong is a lack of space. There are no grassy parks to hold it in. We don’t have a backyard. The apartment building wouldn’t let me rent the indoor play space or sports court. I became a crazed woman asking anyone I knew for advice. With only a week and a half before the date, my neighbor suggested a preschool up the road. She watched the kids as I jumped in a taxi and raced up there. The place was just what we needed and more important it was affordable.

Ally and Austin are in the same physical classroom, but have different teachers and different classmates. It’s called cluster teaching. It’s an ideal way to start the separation of twins, but a nightmare when it comes to birthday party invitation lists. We tried making it small, but every week the list changed and it got to the point where it just made sense to invite them all. Another thing about Hong Kong is that most people have full time help. What that means is almost everyone can make it to the birthday party. So we knew we’d have about 35 kids


I spent the rest of the week trying to find matching party plates for 35 kids. Again, no easy task here. If I want to break the ice with someone new here, all I have to say is “Don’t you miss Target?” and an hour conversation can go from there. Everything here is a treasure search. You have to find where the golden nuggets are and once you find them you have to realize stock is sporadic and inconsistent. Sitting in a cab for 40 minutes to get to a party store to find one set of napkins, makes me laugh at all the people in California who asked me what I would do with all my free time. One friend here claims food procurement alone is a full time job.

Serveral days of searches leds to success! Austin is having an ocean party complete with turtles, killer whales and sharks and Ally is having a Little Mermaid Under the Sea party. We have just enough plates and napkins in each design and ocean goody bags for all. I found a place to deliver a cake, another to deliver ballons and last got the number of pizza to add substance to our food. Evelyn and I stay up late making spring rolls and stuffing goody bags. It looks like I am going to deliver on time….