Brie and Goose Liver
Apparently, there is a new show on TLC these days – Outrageous Kid Parties. The latest episode had a 6 year old girl’s birthday party in which she arrived with her friends, dressed as princesses and riding in a very Disney Cinderella type carriage drawn by horses. According to the show, the cake alone was worth $2100.00.
When Franklin was small, his birthdays were a big deal. He’s the first born. This happens, right? I think when he turned 3, I invited his entire daycare (and of course both sets of parents as a 3 year party doesn’t do the drop off thing), people from my work and everyone in the neighbourhood. It was mayhem in our tiny townhouse. Lovely mayhem but we were seriously lucky that no one broke a tooth or got their head stuck in a chair.
Subsequent parties were then held in places outside the home such as the Heritage Museum and The Bug Zoo. As he got older though, the parties got smaller and we moved to a place with a back door and green space that was easier to access than a patio. We began the lost art of home birthday parties. Many of his friends were having them at Laser Tag and a gymnastics centre but I held fast to the scavenger hunt and open a wrapped package with oven mitts and wooden spoons idea. It’s not that I didn’t like the destination birthdays, it was just that there is a finite number of places to go in the city and since Franklin wasn’t set on anything in particular (and he’s a homebody at heart) we’ve had the last three birthday’s at home.
The last birthday though? The best and the least amount of work. Isn’t this always the way? A sleepover with just a few friends, a borrowed wii and a rented Bionicle movie. The cake was nothing worth noting except that it was chocolate and it was tasty. The goodie bags were just a Bionicle each – chosen by Franklin according to each friend’s personality. They all came over after Aikido and they all left after a few waffles in the morning. No horse drawn carriage, no caterer, no two thousand dollar cake.
I remember the parties we had when I was a kid and they were pretty low key as well. Of course, I was born in the beginning of August so it was a simple matter to hold an outdoor party – sprinklers, wading pool, tag, opening presents on the patio… it was all pretty easy going from what I remember, anyway.
Eliza’s birthday is in a few weeks and I am hoping this will be the first year none of us have the flu – never mind inviting the entire population of Victoria. I asked Eliza who she would like to invite since she has now been to a few birthday parties and knows the drill.
The verdict? 5 adults and one child (not including her brother).
So, it’s now just a matter of enough fine cheese and pate, then!
That’s my girl.
At first, I liked the idea I’d seen in a book I’d read: that the child’s age is the number of friends they could invite. After having her 6th birthday with 6 friends (so, 8 with her and The Brother), I’m already changing my mind. Our house is too small for that kind of chaos and we simply cannot afford to rent out the gymnastics studio or the pottery studio or any of those things. October (December for Dude) in Alberta is certainly no guarantee of reasonable outdoor weather, either. Haha, December outdoor birthday party. Hahahaaa….
Goodness knows there are enough birthday parties throughout the year for the kids to get together with friends outside of school and we’re getting pretty regular with play dates so I don’t feel, at all, like I’d somehow be skimping on the socialization factor. I think we’ll either do a similar thing to yours next year (a few friends for a sleep over) or a pseudo sleep over (like this: http://sugarcityjournal.blogspot.com/2010/12/fake-sleepover-birthday-party.html ). But with less kids
I totally forgot about the awesomeness of games like the Open A Gift With Oven Mitts On. All those bridal & baby shower games can only be more hilarious with kids!
yeah, that idea of the number of kids and the age never took off for me because the older they get, the louder they are and more room they take up.
Sometimes I wonder if there is a certain special wisdom in planning to have children in the summer months.
Heck, there is probably wisdom in planning to have children.
Yeah. Wisdom or insanity. It’s a fine line.
Ugh – the parties. Mika kept changing her mind this year. Declan said he wanted whatever Mika was having. In the end, she decided she wanted something where lots of people could come. Our community hall has a nice big commercial kitchen, so we’re having a make-your-own pizza party there in a couple of weeks. Danny’s Mom is making aprons – wear it and take home as a goodie bag. Mika received a play parachute on her birthday – that and a fully charged ipod should keep 25 kids entertained, no? I may have to throw something else into the mix…tying each other up with streamers or something…
Hilarious, Lane’s guest list is similar to Eliza’s. He’s turning 4 on the 6th and it’s the first year I’ve asked him who he would like to invite. He has a first friend of the same age, and two other children he knows so I assumed he would be into that and a simple home party. Wrong! He teared up at the mere mention of children other than his siblings coming, he got super shy about the idea and said,”no. nobody. Just the family”. Grandparents were ok, siblings too, so it looks like it will be all us bigger people crouching down for some pin the wheel on the hotwheel! His birthday is also 5 days after we move into our new house, so I’m thinking “forts out of empty boxes” theme might be perfect.