And Now for Something Completely Different.

Every since the first Harry Potter book was published, my kids and I have been huge fans. And when I say huge fans…I mean HUGE. Although my son has read “most” of the books, my daughter and I have read the entire series more times than I care to admit. We lined up at midnight at Chapters to get first crack at the latest book and saw every movie on opening day. Yeah…really.

For my daughters’s 8th birthday, I had a Harry Potter party for her and her friends, complete with sorting ceremony (you’re really going to have to be a fan to get the gist of all this), tasks, house cup award and the best themed loot bags the kids had ever seen. I had shopped for months for quidditch broom keychains, lightening bolt bracelets and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans. (Again, it pays to be a Potter nerd here.) The party was a huge success and I have to admit I had a ton of fun planning it. Chalk it up to a little bipolar creativity. The only problem now was that I had upped the proverbial bar on her birthday parties and the expectations were now very high every time her birthday got closer on the calendar. But, I was only too happy to accept the challenge. I had found a new passion.

For the next few years, each birthday was celebrated with a new party themed on the most recent book and I never failed to disappoint. Mind you, I had no idea the impact these events had on the girls until my daughter’s best friend, who was her equal in Harry Potter fandom, told her that she look forward to her parties as much as she did christmas. That actually made me cry. And more importantly, it made all the time and energy it took to put these parties together all worth while.

As the girls hit their pre-teens years, and the books weren’t being published quite as fast, the Harry Potter parties ended and the usual type of teen girl festivities took over. That is until she turned 21. Being such a milestone, we wanted to do something special. So, since she was still an avid fan, I threw out the idea of one last “kiddie” party to coincide with the last Harry Potter movie, the logo of which was appropriately “It All Ends Here”. She freaked…and so did her friends. So for the better part of 6 months, I created the ultimate grown-up kiddie party for my grown-up Harry Potter fans. And although I was entering a very difficult time in my life, I had a blast doing it.

They had to work their way through events of the last book and earn the right to continue to the next challenge. There was everything from potions class to astronomy to a scavenger hunt. They were like 8 year olds all over again. But the biggest surprise was their award for defeating Lord Voldemort…the holy grail of all loot bags. Handmade totes full of everything Harry Potter. From hand knit Gryffindor scarves to golden snitch necklaces. There were time turners and rememberals and handmade tiny potion bottle bookmarks. They were thrilled to bits. One for the books as they say.

We even made an adult version of the book’s favourite drink…alcoholic butterbeer! Recipe: 1 part Buttershots liquour and 3 parts clear cream soda. It was butterscotch heaven in a glass…and those were hand made too!

For me, planning this not-so-kiddie birthday party made a difficult time in my life a whole hell of a lot more fun. It was a wonderful creative outlet and gave me something to focus on that gave me a great deal of pleasure. Something that was very lacking in my life. I even have to admit that when all the planning was complete and the party was finally over, it was really quite bittersweet. It had been a huge success and I had given my daughter a treasure trove of fun memories but I was now at a loss for a project, a diversion, and a goal. I was profoundly sad it was all over. But it did prove to me one thing: I was able to rise to the occasion and find solace in some of the silliness of life. It was wonderful.

So what did I turn to in my quest to keep my brain creative and busy? Loom knitting! Stay tuned!