Pinning the perfect party

My daughter is known for her birthday parties. It is the one day of decadence we have in our kids' lives.

Let it be known there are no outlandish locations, no bounce houses in our backyard. Instead, our at home parties are themed out, low-budged and planned with fun details we make ourselvess.

We've had luaus, 80s parties, dance parties, Fancy Nancy tea parties. It is to the point that last year the neighbor girl, when she got the invitation, asked her mother what she should wear.

My daughter picks her themes usually by the day after her last party. So imagine my surprise when, just a few months away, she still hadn't decided.

She toyed with an American Girl spa party, which I happily found pins for ideas for making fun thing like sparkle lip gloss and accessories for their dolls. (Truth be told: It was a great distraction from a harried project deadline at work.)

And then we realized one of her best friends does not play with dolls. Not wanting to have her feel left out, we went back to ideas.

My daughter considered a "Goddess Girls" themed birthday party as well. For those not in the know, "Goddess Girls" is a series about the Greek goddesses when they were in school. Sort of true to the mythology, except for little details like Artemis is boy crazy.

We realized we could make several of our ideas fit the theme too. For Aphrodite, who likes beauty, clothes and cheerleading (according to the stories), we could make the lip gloss and paint out nails. For Athena, who is wise, we could do a "wisdom challenge" (games). For Artemis, who likes sports and art, we could do outdoor games of some sort. For Persephone, who loves plants, we could add flower embellishments to jewelry or headbands. The only Goddess Girl we weren't going to embrace was Phoeme, who is into gossip.

But it still didn't fit right.

And then, on a car ride home, my daughter said: "Why can't we just have a water party?" She asked for a splash party in the backyard, lunch and ice cream cake.

Why not?

The perfect party may not be able to be pinned. It may just come from a child's imagination.

Let I learn that lesson....