Today I went up to Milwaukee to rifle through my sister's attic and collect some baby hand-me-downs, both gear and clothes. Holy crap did she have stuff to hand down. I left with a trunkful of stuff - shopping bags full of sleepers and boy clothes (thanks, nephew Jack), a Moses basket, seats both bouncy and booster. It was so much more than I expected and will go a long way towards our efforts not to consume too much in the way of baby crap.

After the pilfering, I joined their family at their pool for Jack's fifth birthday party with his preschool friends. I didn't realize until Sheila put me in charge of the gift opening portion that I had never been to a birthday party for a 5 year old before. Sheila left to drop my niece off at her Brownie camp, so I stayed on to help my brother-in-law with the gift opening and cupcake distribution. We announced that it was time for Jack to open presents, and set out a chair next to the gift table for the birthday boy to sit and open his presents. I had assumed (naively) that the guests would sit in their seats and maybe watch for their gift to be open but otherwise would not be interested. I was so wrong.



The kids, one by one, went up to the table and picked up the gift they'd brought. For a second, I thought maybe they'd misunderstood and were going to open up their own gift. Jack started opening one, and every single kid gathered around him - well, "gathered around" is an understatement. They were like the paparazzi swarming Jennifer Aniston, all jockeying for position so Jack would open their present next. With his friends pressed up against him, he would open one, my brother-in-law would grasp for the card before it was lost in the crowd. Sometimes even the gift would get grabbed out of Jack's hands as he looked to see what it was. One kid asked if he could open and play with the giant squirt gun he gave Jack. These kids were like an angry mob, only they weren't angry, they just LOVE presents.





My brother-in-law and I attempted a few times to ask them to "Give Jack some space" or suggest that they all sit down on the towels we'd laid out. They'd step back for a second, then step forward again. Halfway through the chaotic scene, I looked behind me and noticed the table of moms who had stayed for the party, sipping their drinks and most likely laughing at the two of us attempting to maintain order. No interest, however, in helping us with crowd control.