The Host with the Most

  Last night Benjamin and I hosted his friends from Gymboree for a little Christmas get together at Westyn Bay's Clubhouse. This was brought about because of the Halloween Party.

  Some of the moms and I were talking at class a few weeks ago that we should try and do something during the holidays instead of attending the Gymboree Christmas party.  We felt that while the Halloween party was fun, it seemed like it was geared more to the two-year-olds than our one-year-olds.

  So Melinda and I started talking about what options we had for throwing our Alt. Gymbo Xmas Bash. I suggested having it at our community room in our subdivision. That way none of us had to host it our our homes. Listen the last thing I wanted to to do on a week when Cathy's away on work is to clean the entire house for a party. All I had to do was fill out a reservation form and give them a security deposit which was totally refundable if we didn't trash it (which is always in the realm of possibility with a baby).

  Melinda spearheaded the email list and coordinating the potluck portion while I handled the location.

  In total we had nine of our Gymbo babies come to the party along with their parents. It gave the parents a chance to visit while our little ones got to play which wasn't possible at the Halloween party. Not to mention the room only had one outlet and indoor/outdoor carpet so it was essentially baby proofed.

  Each parent brought a dish and a play toy so that our little guys (and it was all boys at the party BTW) could be entertained while we stuffed our faces.

  I baked some mini pigs-in-a-blanket which were a hit. Others brought food from Panera or made cookies and spinach dip. Benjamin ate like a horse having four of my hotdogs, some chicken tetrazzini and part of a banana. 

  By the time the party was slowing down Benjamin was running out of gas and I had my mom take him back to the house for bedtime while I helped clean. 

  In this busy season of holiday parties and friendly get togethers, it was nice to have one less formal with a lot of screaming, crying and spitting up.