The first approach I had with children's birthdays in my adult life was to see my coworkers prepare the parties to celebrate another year of their children. I was not yet a mother and seeing him alone from the outside seemed simple.
Now that I'm a mom, I've actually had only two experiences planning a birthday party for my daughter (when she turned two we only made a small cake at home with her grandparents). I have realized that things are not as simple as they seemed to me before, but I began to think: Is it that we exaggerate with so much planning and organization? Have we gone crazy?
Are you celebrating a birthday or showing status?
I think the main thing to know if we are exaggerating or going crazy, is think objectively why we decided to organize a children's party. The truth is that we could celebrate it only with the nuclear family and perhaps the grandparents, but I think that in our human nature, happiness is something we love to share.
When this is the main reason we organize a birthday party, I think it doesn't matter much how big or small it is. If what we want is to share the joy of another year with our friends, Party size is not something we should care about.
But there is also something called social pressure, and although we try to ignore it, many times we cannot avoid it. We may have the idea of doing something small, but by listening to other people's questions and comments during the organization, we wonder if what we had planned will be enough.
How are they going to decorate? What is the theme of the party? Will they have any child animator? Will you hire catering service? Where will you send the cake? Who will set the party? Where will it be?
These are some of the questions we can hear after commenting that we are organizing a children's birthday. Some may come from someone well intentioned or they could come from someone who only cares about appearances or status.
Of course it is completely valid to throw the house through the window if we wish, but we must remember the reason why we are organizing the party, avoid falling into comparisons and not forget the true purpose of it: that our children have a good time celebrating their birthday.
Is it necessary so much?
I personally believe that everyone is free to choose whether they want a small party or a party so expensive and pompous that it is worthy of a celebrity. Actually, the only thing we need to celebrate a birthday is food, drinks, a cake and good company.
But if we want to include other things so that nothing is missing or so that our guests feel comfortable and welcome, there is no problem in doing so. Let's just always keep in mind the objective of the event and let's not let something as superficial as the status or what they will say press us for having an exaggerated party or beyond our budget.
My experience
As I commented at the beginning of this article, my experience with children's birthdays is relatively small because I have only planned them twice: when Lucia turned one year old and when she turned three, a month ago.
I made my first birthday party because I wanted to celebrate my daughter's first year. Although I know she surely won't remember, I think that the birthday is something very significant, because it is a year in which hundreds of changes occur very quickly. Her second birthday I chose to let it go because besides that it was not a good year economically speaking for us, it seemed small to me to make a great party in which surely she would not even know what was happening.
For her third birthday I decided to have a party a little bigger than the first year, because she I was already aware that I would be years old And he said he wanted a cake. They were weeks of planning in which she was very excited and liked to get involved in organizing every detail.
Although I hired food service and sent to make a special cake, I tried to have only the basics. I must accept that in the matter of decoration I put special effort, although that is attributed to me as a designer I have a weakness because things look beautiful, and I love decorating and making crafts.
When the day of the party arrived, Lucia had an incredible time. As it was hot we put a few small pools so that the children could cool off, which were mostly under five years old. At the end of the day I ended up exhausted but I was glad to see that my effort had paid off and my daughter enjoyed her special day.
And I think that is precisely what we must take into account: the joy of the little person we are celebrating. No need to mount a spectacular party to celebrate our little ones, just that they have a great time.
