The Subtle Art of Throwing a Child's Birthday Party
Without going insane
First off, hats off to those parents who manage to throw the mega parties. They are a ton of work, and the kids love them, and you are amazing. However, you don’t need me to tell you that. The internet tells you that repeatedly. Though a special shout out to my friend who had 24 kids gathered for a birthday party with 8 live snakes. That one was far and away my favourite.
However, for those of you who can’t handle that… Well, try searching “low key kids birthday parties” or “birthday parties at home ideas” and… well pinterest will fill up with all the ways to throw amazing parties at home with to-do lists to make it all easier. This one mom blogger talked about setting up 10 different play stations all over the house and being up until 2:00 am making cupcakes.
That’s… not what I was looking for.
I recently read about a survey about what kids want from their parents. Was it more outings? More time with parents? More toys? I think we all assume it is more time. But the answer surprised me. What they wanted was parents who were less stressed. Yeah… actually that tracks.
So, there’s your permission to do practically dick all for your kids party.
The thing is, they simply love having their friends over for a few hours and to get to eat cake and play with balloons. Seriously, that’s all you have to do. They totally don’t give a hairy rat butt if the house is clean either. (I assume this changes as they get older - I’m talking about the 3 to… well my eldest is 8 so that kind of range. Presumably my 16 year old will want something other than balloons and a cake - but who knows!)
Now, your parental pride may be kicking up a fuss. Hey there, I hear you. Mine does too. So I let her do something she loves. Something that genuinely brings her joy. I bake a cake. But this is me - for real just buy one if that isn’t your thing. Ice cream cakes tend to be hella popular. However, I can’t have emulsifiers so that’s a huge nope for me. But I love to bake.
And with my billion and one digestive issues, I can accommodate just about anything. So there’s often macarons, since a friend of mine has celiac.
But my point is, if your pride wants you to do something, pick out something you love. Love to clean? Make your house spotless. Love to decorate? Go nuts while it gives you joy. Hate it all? Blow up some balloons (with air, not dynamite), buy a cake, and let the kids play.
They will love it. Because kids are smarter than us. And they know that the real fun is in the friendships. The rest is just window dressing.
PS: there’s the flu in this house - this week has sucked and I haven’t even gotten sick, touch wood. I had to postpone the party. But you know what? No deposit lost! Only 5 families to contact! We’ll do it another weekend! He wants to do an Easter egg hunt anyway - I looooooove hiding Easter eggs and then laughing at the kids looking right past them. And finding them weeks and months later. My mom just found one in a mug of coloured pencils. Given the ages of me and my brother, it has likely been there for about 30 years.