Sweet Child of Mine

Some of the best memories I have of growing up include my birthday parties--skating rink parties, sleepover parties, pizza parties, and even the one with the Smurf cake and pink champagne (what were my parents thinking?!).  So it's no surprise to me why I love planning my kids' birthday parties.  I love picking (or helping to select) a theme, the decorations, the festivities, the food, the cake, and the gifts.  And the more hands-on I can be, the better, although I must admit that while I try very hard, I am certainly not very crafty.

Some of my favorites include the Elmo cake I made for the twins' second birthday:

Before the twins got into it.

James David decided that forks were overrated.

Jacob agreed.

I was also impressed with my ability to make a Perry the Platypus pinata for Trey's 5th birthday party:

Perry the Platypus!  What are you doing here?

And the treasure hunt for the goodie bags at the end of Trey's pirate birthday party last year was a great success (and much safer than a pinata!).  He's even requested that again.

Arrr ye ready for a treasure hunt?

These are great memories that I hope they will cherish well into their adulthood.  So, yes, I go all out for birthday parties (you should see me at Christmas!).  And I say that so that you don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way...

                               ...it's a bit ridiculous what many of us do for our kids' first birthdays. 

I've had the opportunity to go to two 1st birthday parties within the past month, most recently the first birthday party of my nephew Max.  From beautiful and tasty (yet disgustingly expensive) cakes to specially made outfits, there are some elaborate and costly first birthdays going on!  And Trey's was no exception--I had his catered for crying out loud!  So I'm just as guilty! 

Going all out isn't really a problem; but when you consider that our kids aren't able to understand or remember a shred of it, you have to wonder what we're going all out for.

I think my sister Jaci said it best:  "It's a celebration--a celebration for us all.  We made it through the first year.  And we didn't damage him!" 

 

Max's 1st birthday party (and first birthday cake)!

That truly is something to celebrate!  They're one only once.  They have their first birthday and first birthday cake only once.  And we get to revel in our amazing accomplishment as parents, rounding the corner of that first year mark, only once.

So Happy First Birthday Sweet Child of Mine!