My girls had a blast at a fabulous birthday party this afternoon, a backyard Hawaiian luau thrown by a mom I admire enormously, and not just for her awesome party planning skills. Me, I’m not so great with the parties. I did throw Jane a pretty cool Little House-themed party for her sixth birthday—with vanity cakes and a reenactment of the "old crab" scene from Plum Creek, with itty bitty Rose as the cutest little crabby grabby crawdad you ever did see—but that’s about it. I don’t even want to talk about the Greek myth party that Jane planned for months, the one that never happened because we couldn’t get the Perseus family and the Hera family together on the same day.

Nope, event planning is not so much my specialty.

I am therefore all the more in awe of mums with a talent for making a child’s birthday festive and special—without excessive glitz or expense. I’m betting a lot of you out there have the gift. Lay it on me: what are the best parties you’ve thrown for your kids?

(And Erica? That pork was to die for.)