May the Force be with You

Andrew had a Star Wars birthday party this year (of course). For the most part it was a normal, average five-year-old party, although it did get off to a bit of a rocky start. On the day I went to Andrew's school to pass out invitations to the kids in his class, another mom was there handing out invitations to her son's Star Wars party, to be held on the same day. We both stopped and looked at each other and kept on handing out our invitations. I went home and agonized over what to do next. I mean, what is birthday party etiquette, exactly? Obviously there couldn't actually be two parties at the same time -- actually hers was scheduled for directly after mine, but still -- but who backs down first? And even worse (for me), this kid is rich and I was imagining pony rides and jumping castles at his party. In addition, we had family coming in from out of town, so it's not like we had much leeway for rescheduling. In the end I decided to back down and move my party to Friday, instead of Saturday, which was good because the other mom "had already booked [her] moon bounce and couldn't possibly change [her] party." Ugh.

As I said, for the most part it was a normal party. Each of the guests got a Jedi tunic for their training, modeled here by Andrew and Ben. (The poses were completely their inspiration, and neither saw the other one do theirs. I love these boys.)



They played games: Rescue Princess Leia; pin the sticker on Darth Vader; Duck, Duck, Goose, Light Saber Training.




They even decorated their own cupcakes with all kinds of frosting and candy.




Now, as a mom planning a party for her son, naturally I wanted to make things extra special. You know, provide some "wow" factor, so that he can look back and remember how great his 5th birthday party was. Since this was a Star Wars-themed party, and all the kids were Jedi, I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if after the Jedi are 'trained' they get a chance to defeat their mortal enemy?" It seemed like kismet that Andrew just happened to get a Darth Vader mask for Christmas that just happened to fit Casey, and we just happened to have a red light saber. It was too perfect, right? Casey, for his part, was not so enthusiastic about dressing up and letting a bunch of kids beat him up with pool noodle-light sabers. But his sister Abbie -- who flew in with her family for the party and without whom and my sister Brenda I would never have been able to pull this thing off -- and I worked together and finally guilted him into it.

After the little Jedi finished their training,



DJ Abbie cued the Darth Vader music, signaling for Casey to make his appearance. I don't mind telling you that I was so excited I was about to jump out of my skin, anticipating the enthusiasm of the little Jedi as Darth Vader made his appearance. However, as soon as Casey turned the corner coming down the stairs, we suddenly realized that we had made a major miscalculation. I'll let the video tell the story.



Once the screaming started Abbie cut the music, Casey froze, and I had to rush two of the kids who were particularly upset out of the room. As I sat in the kitchen trying to calm down a hysterical boy, I started picturing myself having to call the parents of every kid in my son's preschool class to ask them to pick up their child early, and explain to my insurance why I was having to pay for counseling for 12 five-year-olds.

After the initial outcry, most of the kids -- Andrew included -- had this reaction:



Fortunately, kids are resilient, and few of the braver boys jumped in and wanted to fight the evil Darth Vader.

And so far no outraged parents have called to give me a piece of their mind.

So if you are planning a Star Wars party, maybe Yoda should be the surprise guest.