God grant me the serenity
to accept the things squabbles I cannot change stop;
courage to change the things supervise where I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

I'm whispering that continuously to myself in hopes that our daughter's birthday party doesn't become a 22 kid free for all.

At ten, I'm hoping this birthday party will have less messes, less accidents, less boo-boos, less tears and less screaming at the top of their lungs. That no children will bounce on each other, that no one will throw or mash up cake, that no one will get peeved that they didn't get the piece of cake they want ... and to end the night, that no parent will show up 20 minutes late to pick up their child.

I suspect I'm kidding myself and I'll leave the party frazzled but happy, as always.