When I became a parent, I was quickly made aware of certain expectations. Pinterest and my social media feeds were filled with impressively elaborate details of children's birthday parties - intricate handcrafted decor, fully catered meals, custom cakes and creative dessert bars. Blowup bounce houses, miniature carnivals, live entertainment, expensive party favors. Scrolling through Pinterest, I could hardly keep up with the latest trends in kids' parties, each one more elaborate than the last. Coworkers talked about saving astronomical amounts from their paychecks to fund their child's upcoming party...even 6 months away. Commercials and local advertisements played on parent's desires to give their children THE party of the year.
It suddenly seemed that when I became a parent, I was in a different club. A club with very high expectations... expectations that had never been on my radar now had me noticing the latest in "keeping up with the Joneses"...and the Smiths...and the Thompsons....and the Bakers...
Don't get me wrong, I'm all about some big time celebrating. You're talking to the girl who insists on celebrating birthday weeks in my household. I was over the moon when friends sent me a birthday card for every day of my 30th birthday month. I truly love birthdays. And celebrating others. But, I've already planned my own wedding once, and I don't intend to have a mini wedding reception, spending hundreds of dollars and countless hours planning every year for the rest of my kid's annual birthday blowouts. Especially when they are too young to appreciate all of the painstaking details that are clearly for the parent's amusement.
As I plan my daughter's first birthday party and get overwhelmed by the multitude of ideas on Pinterest, I reflect back on the most refreshingly simple, fun, and practical kids' birthday bash that I attended earlier this year. It was in stark contrast to so over the top celebrations I've seen posted online, and it gave me hope and inspiration. I can do this after all, this party-planning parenthood thing!
This party just so happened to be planned by my dear sister. Not only did she have two energetic toddlers whose birthdays fall within a month of each other, my sleep-deprived sister also had a newborn! After researching different party options, she was disgusted by the outrageous prices charged for children's birthday parties at local venues; hundreds of dollars for only an hour. For a bunch of 2-4 year old kiddos! Not wanting to have the party at her own home (did I mention she had a newborn?!) but also unwilling to cave to the birthday party industry's outrageous demands, she got creative.
Both birthday boys, being typical boys, love things that typical boys love. Including firetrucks.
It just so happens that we have a friend who is a fireman in a nearby small town. He was more than willing to give part of his Saturday morning shift to accommodate a bunch of eager toddlers and their parents.
The party-going tots were on top of the world as they explored the firetruck, climbing all over it and taking turns even sitting in the drivers seat as they were supervised by real live firemen. Then, as the kiddos were corralled to the side, they watched in awe while the bright red fire truck drove out onto the fire station driveway.
They took turns spraying the hose into the air, and squealed with delight as water showered down on the driveway in the glistening sun. After one last picture around the fire truck and wearing plastic "official firefighter" hats (purchased at the dollar store, though they might as well have been the real deal as far as the kids were concerned), they left the party with fire safety coloring books in hand.
Instead of an elaborate birthday cake, the kids enjoyed something much better...doughnuts! At a nearby donut shop, parents and kids indulged in assorted doughnuts and chocolate milk.
Since the day was beautiful, the party proceeded to a local park...to run off all that sugar!
As I look forward to celebrating Charlotte's first birthday next month, I get excited thinking about all the possibilities.... themes, decorations, food.... but at the end of the day, I am reminded that sometimes the simplest plans bring the biggest smiles.
Simply celebrating,
L
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