Birthdays

All of us have heard of extreme birthdays... the child who turns one and a wedding-like reception is given in his/her honor.  Thousands of dollars are spent. Of course it's more for the parents than the one-year-old, because I guarantee you .. the one-year-old does not care nor will remember the celebration.

Then there's the other extreme - celebrating a birthday a month later, or not at all. So what is a reasonable way to celebrate a milestone?
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I've always loved birthdays. Perhaps because my own family always celebrated my birthday, it helped me feel special, I've wanted to do the same for my kids. Somehow that specialness seemed diminished if celebrated on a day other than the child's actual birthday - so we always did something on the actual date.

In our house, a birthday began with "birthday breakfast". We would have a special breakfast and the person of honor sat in the designated birthday seat, which has been all dolled up with balloons and ribbons. Presents are piled nearby.

Then in the afternoon/ evening we would invite their friends for a party. Now a word about parties.

Speaking from the experience of doing it wrong on a few occasions, don't go overboard. You'll be totally stressed out and snap at the birthday girl and she'll be in tears. That kinda defeats the purpose of the "happy" in the "happy birthday".

Use the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid). Only invite a couple or just a few friends. I've heard that a good rule of thumb is one guest per year old of the birthday child. That still seemed too many to me. Anyway, too many kids will push you overboard into the land of craziness.

A good party only lasts about 1-1/2 hours - maybe 2 hours when the birthday boy is turning 10 or older. In that time period you can have a few games, open presents, and eat cake. My parties generally were themed. So a Barbie party meant inviting little girls and their Barbies too for "tea". There would be a Barbie cake and Barbie games like pin the Shoe on the Barbie. Or a Big Cats party where the invitees dressed as tigers and lions and hit a tiger pinata. Sometimes we'd have destination parties when they were older such as at the bowling alley or the miniature golf course but that would be more expensive so we didn't too that very often.

The goal is to help the child feel special. The goal is not to make yourself poor and stressed. You can do a lot with a little. Blessings!

And now for a refashion:

I  had this shirt that was way too big for me and made me look dumpy so I dyed it a nicer shade of blue, shortened the sleeves, cut off the bottom and put on a little lace.

I've mentioned in previous posts that I have a penchant for buttons so I replaced all the buttons with mismatched colors. Much more fun!
--Blessings!