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By Jack Beresford
Senior Reporter
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A woman busy preparing for her daughter's eighth birthday party the next day was shocked to discover what her husband chose to focus his efforts on.
Kayla, who asked that her last name not be shared, took to Instagram, under the handle thatgirlwhohasalotofkids, to show how their preparations for the party, which they were hosting at their home just outside of New York City, were going.
"We were having an old-school kids birthday party for my daughter, like we did in the 1990s," she told Newsweek. "Cake and food and lots of family and everyone packed tightly into a house too small for that amount of people, about 50 or so. There was even a bounce house."
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In the past, Kayla would have been able to call on family to help with the setup, but that wasn't an option this year. "Usually, my mom travels from out of state to come help me, but she already had a cruise with my aunts," she said. "So my husband and I were on our own to get the house cleaned and prepped."
Planning kids' birthday parties can be a major source of stress for parents. A poll of 2,000 adults with kids between 3 and 12 who have birthday parties, which was conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Kinder Joy, found that making enough time to plan the event ranked as the No. 1 stressor among those surveyed (55 percent).
Everyone deals with stress in different ways, and, in the case of Kayla's husband, that way involved action rather than words.
Kayla said that as the clock ticked down toward the big event she was "concerned with the practical things, like making sure there were chairs to sit and coolers filled with ice."
That was kind of how this all started. "We talked about fixing a small part of the porch where the board was damaged, since we didn't want anyone to get hurt," Kayla said. "Before I knew it, he was out there with his brother with power tools and banging on hammers at midnight."
Things escalated from there. When Kayla next went to check up on him, he had moved on to painting the porch. "What better way to complete the project than painting the entire porch all over again?" Kayla said.
In the video uploaded to her Instagram, Kayla showcases how her husband had "different priorities" ahead of their daughter's party. He can be seen in the clip applying a coat of paint to the porch, which, to his credit, looks fantastic.
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Though it was an unexpected development, Kayla managed to see the positives.
"When I saw him doing it, honestly I was like, Welp.... At least I know where he's at and he's improving the look of our home, so it's a win-win," she said. "And it kept him outta my hair while I was cooking in the kitchen and decluttering around the house."
The result did not go unnoticed at the party. "Everyone thought it looked great, including me," Kayla said. "Except it poured down rain the entire next day, so it didn't even matter because no one even used it."
The porch did end up getting used eventually, though.
"Then, the following day, my daughter and siblings all played with every craft present she received, and they dumped glitter all over it," Kayla said.
Kayla said the whole experience had her and her husband joking that "nothing would get done around our house if we didn't have parties." She added that "many other wives" commenting on her Instagram post said the same.
"It's the most motivating way to get things done around your house," she said. "We only make big improvements when we have a huge party planned and a deadline. What can I say, I guess we thrive under pressure."
Sounds like they may want to host parties a little more often.
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