Greyson's Traffic School

We had a big birthday party for Greyson today. Greyson loves traffic signs, specifically the stop sign, so I decided to have a traffic theme for his party and call it, "Greyson's Traffic School." I carved our house up into four play zones: our living room, dining room, back yard and garage.

Roque taped down a race track in our garage, complete with parking! The kids had a blast driving around the circuit in all the hand-me-down cars, bikes and wagons that we had to share. I made a cake in the shape of a stop sign and designed posters. We ordered little blinkers and pylon cups for each kid to enjoy and take home. Mom and Dad, Roque and I and our buddy, Arvin were up late the night before preparing. It was party prep RISD-style.

It was a lot of work, but boy was it worth it.The best part of it all was that Greyson seemed to really enjoy himself. Our son is more social than the both of us combined. The moment people started arriving, he was running around the room laughing and clapping, "Yay!!!" I wasn't sure how he'd take to having nine children all over his stuff but he seemed to love the crowd. Not once did he ever retreat to either of us, freak out over sharing his toys, or seem overwhelmed. He plunged right into it all like a good host. I was so proud of him.














My goal in taking this on was to give Greyson what I never had growing up: a fuss made over my birthday. Till this day, birthdays are not a big deal in my family and I never had a birthday party growing up. It's something I've accepted about my family but I want it to be different for my children. I know Greyson won't remember this party, but when he looks at the photos, I want him to know that his mom made an effort.

This (left) is one of my favorite photos from the party: my little boy mid-air. I wish I could suspend him in this moment so he never grows up. My only regret is that we didn't get a group picture of all our guests. We did manage to catch a shot of those who could stay past nap time. We felt blessed to have so many friends and family to celebrate with. Thanks to all who came to share in our insanity, and for wonderful gifts. Greyson is enjoying each and every one of them.