Happy Birthday at Home Depot

My grandson Tyler Lee, the namesake of his great-grandfather, The Great Malvini, wanted a typical birthday party—construction-themed invitations, a robot cake, and lots of presents. Fortunately, for the up-and-coming four-year-old, his mother is not in the least interested in typical.

The invitations were purchased, and the first of many drafts of proper instructions were written as the party “evolved.” Next “Cake-Baker” Tim received a scanned copy of Tyler’s robot pillowcase with the favorite robot identified. Then Rachel was off to the various dollar stores to find goodie buckets for the attendees.

Because Tyler invited everyone he could possibly think of (remember, he wanted lots of presents), Rachel bought two dozen black buckets and printed each child’s name and Bucket of Tools in yellow. Next, she filled the buckets with all the items necessary to complete a construction project: ruler, pencil, safety goggles (actually they were swim goggles that she found on sale), a 2” paint brush, retractable tape measure, four screwdrivers, and a mask. The greeter at the local BJ’s gave her stickers. All was ready except for one important thing. What does one actually do at a construction birthday party?

I learned that Home Depot sometimes gives away the orange aprons like the ones they use for the Saturday morning kids’ crafts. So, Rachel stopped in to inquire about aprons and left with 24 aprons and the promise of a party.

As each child arrived at Home Depot, their names on their aprons and their Bucket of Tools showed them to their work space. Kids, with a little help from the adults, built wooden tool boxes before a short tour of the more fun parts of the store.

Later, the party moved to the house where everyone ate pizza and oohed over the robot cake. Tyler Lee finally got to open all his wonderful presents, and his cousin, Anna Lauren, tried not to give everyone pink eye.

The Great Malvini would have been proud. He always loved a good party.