Monday, September 24, 2007
Children's Birthdays
My daughter will be celebrating her 13th birthday this weekend. We are planning the party with friends and the details are a little overwhelming. There seems to be such a big variety in how to celebrate birthdays. So, how do you celebrate your children's birthdays in your family?
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7 comments:
HI All,
Well I used to throw these big elaborate parties for my kids--and try to have a theme for all of them and go over the top with making up games and taking 5 hours to decorate a perfect cake.....this is crazy! I decided instead of trying to create a perfectly "themed" party,running around like a mad woman, I would rather celebrate their birthdays with my children and make it special. So now we have toned everything down and we make it more like a family adventure rather than a big party--I do throw in a few big parties depending on the ages--but I get other people to help me so I am not running the show by myself...it got to a point where birthdays were not fun anymore. A few ideas we have done-- this year my daughter turned 12 so we had 7 girls over and we made tye dyed shirts and ate pizza--no sleepover--I couldnt handle it--b/c we had had a sleepover a few weeks before that and I needed my rest :)
My son had a bowling party, we just invited a few church friends. IN the summer my daughter had a beach party so we all went to our local lake and had a picnic lunch and played. We have also taken our kids to an indoor water park and just invited a few friends. My daughter says on her 13th birthday she wants to rent a limo to go around town with her friends--we will see what happens.
My daughter turned 5 at the end of August, and we had a party at build-a-bear. I had a part for her last year when she turned 4 in the park and I did all the work, this year Build-a-bear did all the work. We're hoping to be able to rent a house this time next year, and we're hoping to be able to have a party at home. (we just have a small 2 bedroom now.
Lisa
My son is only two but for his first birthday we did a big family picnic at a nearby harbor, with a pinata and cake and lots of family members. It was a combination 1st birthday and moving away party as we were moving out of state. It's true that at 1, the party was truly not for Jack but for everyone else. At 2, we made it just for him, inviting some close cousins and an aunt and uncle. Very low key, cupcakes and just a few presents. It was perfect. Our little guy is just not into big crowds and opening more than a few presents becomes a chore for him so we just decided to go simple and it worked perfectly! Parties these days can get a bit insane so we are opting for simple, but fun. A trip to the zoo and a train ride can keep my son happy all day long! -Marlys
Lots of good ideas everyone. I certainly resembly the "mad woman" comment from time to time. Yes, some parties are getting insane. Each year is different for us. Keep the good ideas coming.
I must admit I'm the one that goes overboard. But that's my business - I'm an event planner. It has it's stresses but it's just what I love to do. My kids get into it now that they're 6 and 8. My daughter actually comes up with some fantastic ideas and we really have fun with it. I've had as many as 30 kids (plus parents) in my house for parties. We have very little family near us so maybe I'm actually a little envious of the people who have the casual family parties. Maybe I'm just trying to make up for that. It's fun, though. But definitely not something everyone enjoys. If it's pure stress and not fun you shouldn't feel pressured to do what others do. Or just hire someone like me to do the brunt of the work so you can enjoy it as well!
Hi Cynthia,
Thanks for posting and sharing about your job. My family is in the same boat as you, we don't have family that is real close by. You definitely sound like you have the gift of organization and hospitality. I agree a frazzled Mom is not much fun.
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