We threw Ben his first "real" birthday party: rented location, invitations, and yes, goodie bags. The whole idea started because this was his first birthday since he'd started school, and he wanted to invite his classmates.
"Let's keep it really simple," we said.
Yeah. Simple. Really simple.
Sorta.
Like just about everything else about motherhood, the birthday party situation did not quite turn out the way I had expected.
I thought Party Day would be...
1. Easy
2. Cheap
3. All-out excitement and happy hysteria from Ben
Instead, it was...
1. A tad difficult (Why the hell can't people RSVP?)
2. Expensive (Who knew goodie bags could run you the equivalent of a good pair of stilettos on sale?)
3. Some excitement (He basically went from gift to gift with little to no reaction)and not necessarily the happy kind of hysteria (He ended up in time-out DURING his party)
3. Some excitement (He basically went from gift to gift with little to no reaction)and not necessarily the happy kind of hysteria (He ended up in time-out DURING his party)
I think, in part, it was the inexperience of 2 parents planning a party for the first time. He was tired from having gone to bed late the night before and we scheduled his party way too late in the day. He was over-everything: over-tired, over-stimulated, and over-whelmed.
And somehow, I got caught up in it all: not only did I obsess over the silly little goodie bags, I made Hubby and Little Brother (and me) wear matching Batman shirts to go with the theme.
Yeah, I gave in. And wonderful man that I'm married to, he allowed me to pull him in right along with me. So we WERE those cornball parents with the thematic outfits, yelling and screaming at our birthday boy for not "being nice" to his guests, jumping around in the bouncehouses along with the kids.
We used to be cool, I swear.
LOL! Tooo hilarious! You're bold and I admire you because I've NEVER done the birthday party thing. I've just faced the fact that I'm not a birthday party Mama, but the boys always have a great time on their birthday. Hey, at least you have pictures to prove he had a party - you DID take pictures, right?
ReplyDeleteNice shirts! And don't worry you are still cool!
ReplyDeleteWe all USED to be cool; that's how we became parents. And every now and then, we get to be cool for a little while, although our children are usually not witness to it, because we have to get away from them to BE cool again! Welcome to the other side...
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