Last Party
I apologize once again from my absence. The weekend got a little hectic. We had a major cleaning frenzy on Saturday since we were having a pile of people over on Sunday after church. The kids did an awesome job of helping us out. Definitely appreciated that! I also did a large amount of cooking and baking over the weekend - unfortunately there's nothing left to show from that activity. But the rhubarb pies were delicious!
Monday morning brought our last birthday celebration for Abby. We invited four of her little friends over (two sets of siblings) to spend the morning with Abby. She got some fun stuff including her very first Barbie. She likes it a lot because it has hair extensions you can put on and "cut" off. She is also enthralled with her birthday balloon that was given to her. Here's a picture of her opening presents with her little friends watching.
I am not one of those parents who go all out for birthday parties. I do not decorate. I do not have a theme. I do not have 30 children over. I do not plan games and activities. I do not have goody bags for all the kids to take home with them. I really don't feel bad about that. The things I do: I make them the cake of their choice and hopefully in the form of their choice - I have to get creative on some, but it's fun. I let them choose 1-4 friends to invite over. We get them 1-2 presents, depending on price. They get to choose the menu for the day and often we let them pick out some pop to drink (a rarity for us). They get piles of hugs and kisses and lots of special attention for the day. Other fun things that happens for their birthday but isn't necessairly our doing - a meal together with extended family (grandparents and great-grandparents) in their honor, my parents like the take the birthday child out for dinner and have them spend the night, phone calls from other relatives who live far away (and sometimes presents too!)
So let's hear from you: Growing up, were birthdays huge affairs for you? - my birthdays growing up were low-key. I had my best friend overnight and we would make my own birthday cake from scratch which inevitably ended up as flat as a pancake and got decorated with olive green frosting by the time we had mixed in all the food coloring. For my 2nd grade birthday party, I got to invite all the girls from my class over. The thing I liked about that was that I got a lot of presents that year. But I remember feeling stressed out by having so many people over (yeah, I'm kind of introverted).
If you are a parent, do/did you have big parties for your kids?
I guess that is another trait you got from me (good or bad) low-key birthday parties. Not much to do about them. I myself never ever remember a birthday party thrown for me as a child. I guess I learned the low-key from my mother. I do remember my dad always went overboard though with lots of gifts ! He knew people who owned a toy store ! The best birthday ever was the surprise 60th birthday you (and your father...sort of) threw me. So thoughtful and such a surprise to say the least!
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I think we each got one birthday party - a more planned affair with friends, etc. But other than that birthdays were pretty simple - a few small presents, a shape cake that mom made, and we got to pick our birthday dinner (a veggie was required). And hey, I turned out relatively normal! :) I definitely don't think birthdays have to be a huge she-bang every time!
ReplyDeleteI was lucky if my mom even remembered it was my birthday. Very rarely did I even get presents. I remember one year, my "birthday" present was a new coat. But my birthday is the last day in FEBRUARY, and the coat was two sizes too big (it was just a coat for next winter- she had seen it on sale).
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