Last winter, I read an article someone wrote about how over the top children’s birthday parties have gotten and how she curbs that trend with her son. She talked about how she gave her son a limit, say $100, and that’s all he had for everything; food, decorations, cake, favors, etc. The little boy loved the experience of it and they all had a great time budgeting and planning (yeah right… I have two little boys and the word “no” is oh-so-thrilling to them). The whole, entire time I was reading the article, I felt anxious.
Anyone who knows me knows that a birthday party at my house may as well be on an episode of that old MTV show “My Super Sweet 16.” I decorate. I spend WAY too much money. I plan on enough food and drinks for a small army. Maddox, my oldest, turned six last Thursday and this past weekend we had his Lego Nexo Knights theme party. Although the weather didn’t really cooperate so a lot of the party didn’t go as planned, (ahem, 55 degrees when it’s usually 70, ahem) we still had a really great event and it got me to thinking…
Maybe everyone will think I’m totally crazy, but for me, executing a big, over the top, amazing theme party is just the way to do a child’s birthday.
Here are my reasons why in my house, bigger is for sure better when it comes to parties:
1. I can’t take them anywhere big and fancy.
I would love to wake my kids up with a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal and a plane ticket and tell them we are headed to Disney for a birthday celebration. However, for my family that’s not really in the cards right now. I can’t up and go to the beach with them on a whim or cart them off on a sightseeing tour to commemorate their entrances into this world. But what I CAN do is make the park/our house/the party room look as close to whatever theme they picked as possible. Yes, I spend a few hundred dollars every April and December to transform our spaces into their own little world for a few hours time. But they love it and remember it and talk about it for months after their parties are over. Which brings me to my next point:
2. My boys really, truly appreciate what I do for them come party time.
Saturday morning Maddox got up early, and quietly walked around the dining room looking up at all his decorations. He wandered into the kitchen and looked at the buffet of snacks and drinks I was beginning to place around the counter all the while grinning from ear to ear.
One day, my kids won’t ask for a theme at all. They will ask to go to dinner, or have a few friends over and play video games in their rooms. They won’t marvel at the actual pineapple I carved and put Sponge Bob in, or the “road” I made out of black craft paper and white paint, running the length of three tables so Blaze and all his buddies could drive around on them as the kids ate. Right now they are still little enough to imagine that they are in Mickey Park or under the sea with the Bubble Guppies, so why not let them have that experience to the fullest? After all their birthdays are only for one day…
3. You’re only born once.
I know A LOT of adults who take off work or skip classes the day of their birthday. If their birthday falls on a Friday or a Monday, they make a long weekend out of it and take a trip. Some do girls’ weekends at a spa or a romantic retreat with their partner. Kids can’t really plan their own special event. They can’t get in the car and drive to Charleston and thank everyone via Facebook post for the birthday wishes, complete with a picture of a drink and the ocean. It’s up to us, as parents, to go above and beyond for our kiddos come birthday time.
Birthdays are so special, they just are. Now that I’m a mom, birthdays signify the one day that everything changed in my life, because now I have this new life (or lives) to watch over, love, and provide for. April 7th and December 22nd aren’t just regular old run of the mill days for me; they are days that ended months of waiting and hoping and discomfort and fear and replaced that with two actual people who I met and immediately loved. I know that a fancy party won’t make my children any more loved or special to me, but it is a way of me showing them how darn important they are.
4. I throw parties for my dogs.
You can’t really bake a cake for a Yorkie and expect your kids to be okay with a few random balloons here and there and call it a day. You just can’t.
#4 is the best! Haha. Each family is different. One might do the $100 thing and it works for them, others bring Disney into their house. Both are meant to celebrate a child who is loved. Carry on, birthday Queen I say!
Thank you!
Yes, I have friends who say “I don’t know why you do all this every year” and I say to them “I don’t know why you don’t.” For me this is something I can do for a few more years and we all enjoy it so why not?
And yes. My baby girls get birthday parties just like their brothers ?
This is me (minus the dog thing since we don’t have any pets). My birthday is New Year’s Day and I felt like I always got a raw deal because I never had parties. I throw my kids big parties and like you said they appreciate what I do for them. It is not saying that other kids don’t feel loved if they do something small but this makes me happy to do. This year we are having one big joint party for my three since their birthdays are close together and I hope they each feel special despite it being a joint event.
I’m sure they will love it. And yeah. I feel bad for my youngest because his birthday is December 22nd. Don’t even get me started on “here you go this is for your birthday AND Christmas” presents