It never did get painted.
We went through three bats: a plastic bat, a wooden stick, and a regular wooden baseball bat. It finally broke after 60+ wacks. My advice to future pinata makers: be careful not to make it too well. The upside, though, was that all of the children got many opportunities to pummel it, so they really had a lot of fun.
After the candy came out, Little Z started crying. I had given everyone a bag to put their candy in, except for the birthday girl! And now the candy was all gone. But, of course, her friends (ages 4-6) are kind and generous folk, and they all gathered around and gave her some of their candy, until she had the most candy of all. They didn't even have to be persuaded. It was sweet. (In more than one way.)
*Correction: Under construction Death Star, not destroyed, because after they destroyed it, there was nothing left. Thanks, Beer and Burritos.
