Party Like a Fireman

Today's tale of birthday fun comes straight from The McMommy Chronicles. I think this was one of the first blogs I started reading way back when, and it still entertains me every day. She also has a great giveaway blog with lots of fun stuff, so remember to check it out when you're done here!

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A Theme About Birthday Parties. (A++++++++++)
Originally published March 2010

matt asks:
My daughter's fifth birthday is coming up. How about cool party ideas? Not crepe paper and piñatas...something unique.
I want you to write.........A THEME.

First of all, 1500 bonus points to whoever knows what movie Matt is quoting in his question and that I am paying homage to in my title.

Secondly….can we get the bartender to pour Matt a drink?

Because I’m going to need him to sit tight and settle in while I tell him a little story about a girl and her friend and what happens when you think “This is going to be the most ____(fun, creative, cool, etc.)___ birthday party EVER!”.

So this girl and her friend have two kids whose birthdays are 2 weeks apart.

And truth be told, these two girls are really not the biggest fans of kids birthday parties. HOWEVER, they heard that the local fire department will let you host a birthday party there for free.

FREE? REALLY?

Ok, then, why not?

Fire station birthday parties for everybodeeeeeeeeeee!!!

The kids are invited to explore the fire trucks, try on the gear, and thennnnn…hey! Why don’t we just head across the street to the park where…I have an idea! We can order a pizza, slice up some cake and….oh wow! It would be the easiest dual birthday that ever was!

So the girl and her friend let each birthday boy pick a friend from their class to attend, invited the grandparents and extended family to attend, and wow, this is going to be so easy and low key, what could go wrong???

Fast forward to the morning of the party.

It is 50 degrees and hurricane force winds out. (which I realize means swimming weather for many of you, but to Floridians, we are crying and screaming uncle.)

Party was going to start in 15 minutes. The girl and her friend are sitting bundled in the car with the heat on, the trunk is packed with coolers and party decor, and these two have no clue where their party was going to be held.

Because the park was like Antarctica and the fire fighters were no where to be found.

(Turns out they were practicing some sort of drill up 100 feet in the air on their ladder truck…which under normal circumstances would have been totally cool…ok, even under ABNORMAL circumstances this was pretty cool…but keep in mind these girls were stressed out and could have used a bottle of wine right about then.)

OMG. Who’s stupid idea was it to have a birthday party again?

With 7 minutes to party time, the girl and her friend made the executive decision to overtake the empty bay of the fire station and just start setting up the party there.

Would the firemen get angry at them?

It was a risk they had to take.

Would the firemen even be back in time to show the kids the fire truck?

Who knows.

BUT LOOK! OH WOW!

Here’s the firemen’s washing machine, kids!!! Isn’t that AWESOME?!

In the end, it all worked out. Firemen suddenly started appearing and not only did they not care that the girls commandeered their bay, they were helpful, and accommodating, and some of them even gave you that crazy melty feeling in your stomach when they smiled and posed for pics with the kids.

Not that this story happened to me, of course.

So the moral of this story, Matt?

You should totally have the birthday party at a fire station. Firefighters are awesome and kids love them and their washing machines.

And Matt’s wife?

Enjoy and don’t forget your camera. {wink wink}