To party? Or Not to party!
The pressure! The pressure! Oh the pressure!!
It seems ever so important these days to have a party for your kids. The pressure to ‘keep-up-with-the-Jones’s’ from my parents days rarely crept down to birthday parties but now it is just as trendy as DKNY or Jimmy Choo shoes. To have toddlers scampering at my feet, all smothered in beautifully decorated cake, and screaming high pitched in and out of the lounge room scaring the dog just didn’t seem so appealing this year. The infamous question: To party? Or to quietly celebrate?
Ah the answer came so quickly this year.
I love seeing Pickles with other kids of her age. Most of her cousins are older than she is but when she is around those her age she flowers like a lilly. Mischief, she cause, and it is the mischief I love watching. It shows such character, such innovation, the kind of mischief she does and it triples in ratings when egged on by another toddler.
Being two is a milestone, I think. It’s the time when the infamous ‘terrible two’s’ kick in. The time when their volume knob seems to jump from medium to very high in a matter of a day, and the time when their beautiful smile turns from glorious innocence to ‘I know exactly what I’m doing Mummy’. However, this year I have decided that we are going to start a new tradition and one I must admit, that has delighted my feet, and warmed my heart.
A tea party. Yeh, it’s a party I know. But an intimate one, a smaller one, one filled mainly with adults, one that I can cope with and one that once over, doesn’t include much tidying up. I will have to make cup cakes but that’s a love of mine, the cake this year however…will be bought.
What is a celebration anyway. Is it the streamers and balloons? Is it the friends and family singing the ole traditions? Or the games played? A celebration in the true sense of the word is a commemoration, and how we commemorate birthdays is more important because it’s us with the memory, not our guests. So, after feeling the pressure to make the celebration next week one with balloons and lots of toddlers, I came to my Tea Party decision. Pickles will enjoy cup cakes and the company of a few toddlers the day before her birthday, then the true commemoration will be on her actual birthday. Spent with just Daddy and me, we can spoil her and enjoy up close and personal her fun, excitement and joy with a day full of magic, lunch and just the three of us.
There will be many years where I will fall under the spell and arrange bouncing castles, cake, treats, streamers and my own attempts at creating party games for little ones, however not just yet.
Pickles loves tea parties anyway so we’ll set up her tea set and make tea for everyone this Sunday. We have a tea party most days. I enjoy many a cup of tea with Pickles, sometimes Minnie, sometimes Goofy and even sometimes now Dotty Wot and Spotty Wot join us. Pickles delicately pours in the make believe tea from the pot, followed by milk, then, when she thinks Mummy hasn’t been sweet enough, I am graced with a little make believe sugar. Mmm mmmm! She exclaims every time. ”You make the best cups of tea”, my smile then follows.
For now, my mind wonders off down the Yellow Brick Road called Memory and I glance over to her photo on the wall. She’s only three months old there. Where did the time go. It is such a blurr!! Her first tooth, her first giggle, even that first puke seem such distant memories. Now the big Two Year Old Girl is emerging and how delightful she is, and how wonderful my life seems. I am loving her more and more each day. Her character, her boldness and her challenges encourage me and make me realise how much I love being her Mum.
5 Comments
I really enjoyed reading this post. I am a mum to be and have thought many times about our babies first birthday. Its a wonderful idea to just do an intimate tea party and then concentrate on the day just as a family.
How many kids do you have, just the one?
Mummy2b
Hi Mummy2b,
Thanks for your comment. Parties are wonderful celebrations of our kids and for our kids. Having only done one so far and heading very close to the next, this Sunday, I am really excited to see the difference as last year we had a much bigger gig. Will keep you posted and let you know.
Pickles is Number One, so far
I had the 1st birthday for my son for the tradition of being 1. I had the 2nd birthday party because a beautiful sister was coming out from the UK and I wanted her to be a part of a celebration for my son. He really didn’t like all the whohaa and I pondered on this. The next few birthdays were afternoon tea. First year at school everyone had a party and I asked him what he wanted, of course he said Macdonalds like everyone else, cool for me I just paid and everything else was done for me. After that it was back to afternoon tea parties. The best one we had was no organised games at all. I bought dress ups, plastic swords, different forms of ammunition etc… which we still use today for imagination games, and a few girly things for our girlfriends to participate. I left food out, the mums all coffeed and chatted. I told the kids here is the food if you want something to eat, out into the backyard and do whatever you want. Wow they had a blast. The food hardly got touched except when it came to cake time towards the end. My son was not too overwhelmed by people standing around expecting something of him, he just played to his hearts content and had enough friends to keep him busy. I made a decision years ago I was not going to conform to giving lolly bags or gifts as people left. I see it as a form of “i’ll pay you to come to my party”, and I personally on want people to come to my party who want to be there, i’m certainly not a numbers person. I provide everything needed for the party while they are here and then that’s it. All my son’s friends stopped asking for the lolly bags and still want to come to his afternoon tea parties anyway. So I am with you on the tea party, the intimacy of a smaller group is so much nicer, and my son gets to spend time with each of his close friends because the number of kids is easier to get around.
Happy Birthday Pickles for your upcoming event, I so wish I could join your tea party.
Aww, A tea party sounds great!! I’ve got the stress of trying to plan a 1st Birthday Party , I’m dreading any future parties now!!
Oh I so remember the first. It truly is worth going all out for their first birthday. It is such a milestone. So will the party be blue or pink? I am with you in thought as their 1st is momentus! Planning is the best part. I went into crazy Mummy mode and even made a balloon arch.
I wish you the best.