I wanted my daughter to experience the fun I had growing up. So we went toilet papering.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ciara Jones . It has been edited for length and clarity.

My daughter recently turned 13, and there were so many ideas we had about how to celebrate. It’s a huge birthday — a big deal for a kid, and we wanted to make it special for her.

In the end, we decided to take her and a few friends to a popular Mexican restaurant, go for snow cones, and then have them all sleep over at our house.

Once we got back home from food, I could hear the girls giggling, and for some reason, a thought popped into my head.

We should go toilet papering .

Maybe it was nostalgia, remembering what I was doing at 13…