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Adventures in Attachment Parenting: Our Pumpkin Party by Allison Silver


The past few weeks have been action packed and a bit crazy in the Silver household. Two weeks ago we got our first real cold! Since I haven’t taught school in almost two years we haven’t been sick in two years. But as soon as we started our parent-tot class at the local Waldorf school within three weeks we both had a cold. Ugh! Being sick is the pits! Especially when you are a mom. There is no break for a mom of a toddler you are still on 24/7! (It might even give me more justification for homeschooling in a few years.) Luckily we were both able to shake it after four or five days which was good because we had a two year old birthday party to plan and host!

That’s right folks this past Saturday our little pumpkin turned two! Seriously, when did this happen? In some respects it seems like just yesterday I was being rushed to the hospital by my colleagues because my water broke at an Autism workshop in San Francisco! Then on the other hand I kinda feel like, she’s only two? Haven’t we been dealing with two for the last six months! But either way she is growing up, day by day, and my little baby is starting to slip away. It’s exciting and makes you want to bawl your head off all at the same time!

Birthdays have always been a big deal for me. My mom always made sure that each of us felt special on our birthday. I remember always being able to request a special birthday dinner and dessert on my birthday and we always had a party with a bunch of screaming kids! It’s one of those things that you look back on in your childhood that really makes you smile. So needless to say I love birthdays! For Charley’s second birthday we wanted to keep things simple. We have a beautiful backyard area and we wanted to host the party outside. I mean who wants a bunch of two year olds running around your house? Not me! So we decided to do a pumpkin party. (Plus, I absolutely love Fall!)

To entertain our two year old guests we decided to set up an area where they could each paint a pumpkin to take home. We have a ton of oak trees on our property so we felt that it would be a fun activity for the kids to play in the leaves. So we raked up a big pile of leaves and put it in the middle of our yard. But we still needed a third activity to keep our two year old friends busy. Then a week before the party, after a visit to a local pumpkin patch, I had a great idea! Let’s build a climbing structure out of straw bales!

Ok, but how am I going to find straw bales and get them delivered in time for the party? After a quick look on Craigslist I found a guy who was selling a bunch of straw bales for a good price and would deliver them to my house for free! My poor husband was impressed that I had managed to pull this off but completely overwhelmed! Since I had found the straw bales that meant that he would have to build the climbing structure. (So much for keeping things simple!) After a mini meltdown, a few choice words, and a lot of hard work he managed to build a great climbing structure for the kids in our backyard.

To complete our party we served Charley’s favorite foods, pizza and pie. Luckily during the month of October Papa Murphy’s pizza makes a pepperoni pizza in the shape of a Pumpkin, and we had pumpkin pies made by a local orchard. I also made pumpkin cake pops to put in the goodie bags and my husband found some pumpkin beer as an extra treat for the parents. I am pleased to tell you that our pumpkin party went off without a hitch! The weather cooperated and all of the children and adults had a great time. And the straw bale structure was a huge hit! I was a bit nervous about having a dozen two year olds over but there were plenty of spaces for everyone to check out. And most of all Charley had fun! And when it’s all said and done isn’t that what matters most? Maybe next year I really will keep it simple and have it at our favorite pizza place……….. but a pony party sure does sound fun!

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