What with school beginning, as well as soccer and a hundred other activities, September can be one of those months where many parents barely get a chance to breathe, let alone take the family on the road. So, instead of picking a destination for your family to go to this month, why not make your house the destination? After some careful consideration and the weighing of many options, our family has decided to create our own can’t-miss event—an ice cream social!—at one of our favorite party spots in Greater Sacramento—home.

Not only is a social a great reason to eat all the ice cream you want; it’s also a great way to open your home to family, old friends and the new friends your children are making at school. Putting faces to the names your kids will be telling you about for the next year is an invaluable reference for parents who want to be a part of their kids’ social life, in a spying/keeping tabs kind of way. Not to mention, it gives you a chance to meet the parents of your children’s friends (which often explains a lot). And just in case people need more reasons to attend than just ice cream and good conversation, we have found plenty to celebrate. The list includes, but is not limited to: the end of summer vacation, the end of summer heat, the promise of perfect fall weather, chocolate, the start of school, strawberry, friendship, family, vanilla, no reason at all, and my wife’s birthday.

You know, while you’re at it, you might as well invite your neighbors too, seeing as most Americans don’t know more than a neighbor or two on the whole block. An ice cream social/block party is the kind of thing that might immortalize your family in your neighbors’ minds better than, say, that time your dog ate their pet or your teen and her friends toilet papered those heirloom rose bushes.

The best part of the whole shebang is that you won’t have to leave your house. The down side is that you may have to clean it. Fortunately—September weather being what it is around here—you can probably host the messiest, most fun parts of it outside. Even more fortunately, nothing motivates kids to flex their cleaning muscles like a reward made of ice cream.

So, get planning, and you can get this whole thing finished before the rainy season begins. Oh, and don’t forget to send me and my family an invite. We’ll bring the dark chocolate syrup and the maraschino cherries.