Back-to-School Scooter Party

Fifteen kids. A pile of snacks. Several scooters. No planned activities whatsoever.

We had about 15 kids coming over after school.

There was no activity.

No craft.

No balloon situation.

They had scooters.

That felt sufficient.

We live in South Philly, where “outside” does not generally mean a sprawling backyard with enough room for 15 children to run freely.

It means the alley.

So the Friday after school started, we put some food outside, told everyone to bring a scooter, and let the kids take over.

Which, in retrospect, was the activity.

FOOD + DRINKS

For the kids, I put out grapes, Goldfish, chips, pretzels, juice and ice cream bars.

For the adults: chips and salsa.

Everyone Venmo’d me for pizza.

Everyone brought their own booze.

This was the entire catering operation.

There was no cheese board. No signature cocktail. No separate adult menu. No attempt to turn an after-school scooter situation into something it wasn’t.

There were snacks.

Then there was pizza.

Everyone was fine.

THE ENTERTAINMENT

See: scooters.

At one point I had the fleeting thought that maybe I should have planned something.

Then I looked outside.

They were racing scooters up and down the alley, stopping for snacks, and generally behaving like a group of children who had absolutely no interest in whatever activity I might have spent three hours preparing.

They were fine.

More than fine, actually.

CITY KIDS ARE RESOURCEFUL

One of the things I love about raising a kid in the city is that you get very good at using whatever space you've got.

A stoop is somewhere to sit.

An alley is a scooter track.

A small patio can hold pizza, snacks and a surprising number of adults if everyone agrees not to think too hard about personal space.

You don't need the giant backyard.

You need somewhere for people to land.

THE POINT

I love a dinner party. I will happily make place cards for six people and spend an unreasonable amount of time thinking about a napkin.

But people do not need a production every time they come to your house.

Sometimes you send a text. You put some snacks outside. Everyone brings something to drink. You order pizza. Everyone Venmos you. The kids entertain themselves.

Nobody cares that you didn't plan an activity.

They came over.

That was the plan.