Last Friday a friend asked me if I'd thought of any ideas for Nell's birthday. I burst into laughter.
I'm horrible at birthdays. Really, I am. Neither of my kids have ever had anything that resembled a party and I rarely do anything nice for anyone on their birthday. I accept it as a weakness. Birthdays just aren't my thing. I'd even discussed this all earlier last week with two other friends.
Yet ...
Ever since then I have been scouring pinterest for ideas. And I'm actually really excited about my kids birthdays now. In fact, I can't stop thinking about them.
But I am a kid party virgin. I've been to a couple of parties, one for Reid's friend Oliver (his 4th) and his friend Parker (his 3rd) and one for Parker's little sister (turned one just weeks before Nell did) and my nephew Isaac's first and my niece Allie's second. That's it. Oh wait, I went to Jaedon's first and fourth and Livy's first, but that was years ago -- long before I had my own kids.
Well that was a random list to come up with in the middle of a blog, but I think back to all these parties to try and figure out if there are certain rules to kids parties. Of all those first and second birthdays all but two were just for family. The two that had friends only invited a couple close family friends. So that makes me wonder, do I just do a family party for Nell? Do I invite her friends? Do I invite my friends (the ones with little kids anyway)? This is why I don't do parties. I'm the kind of person who wants to invite everyone. I don't want anyone to feel left out. I still remember the stress of coming up with my list of 10 friends in fourth grade. I talked my mom into 11, because I knew one girl wouldn't be able to come. And even then I still have this clear image of the hurt in another friend's eyes when she realized she wasn't invited. Invites are such a pain, I just avoid them all together by not having parties.
Gifts are the other pain. Can I tell everyone to bring art supplies to donate to a charity in lieu of gifts? Is that acceptable? I love giving gifts, and I generally love receiving them ... but parties make me feel like I am asking for them. And that has always made me uncomfortable. On the flip side of that, I don't feel like people are asking me for gifts when I get invited to parties. Yes, gifts are an obvious part of attending any party (weddings, showers or birthdays) but I'm not offended by the idea that I should bring one. So why do I despise having others bring them? I really don't know the answer to that question. But it is one of my big kid birthday party hang ups (the other being who to invite).
All this rambling probably makes me sound like I'm way over thinking this. But didn't I already admit that I am? I really cannot stop thinking about these birthday parties!
So stay tuned and find out how things go. Even if it is just the four of us, Nell is going to have a fun art themed Birthday and Reid is going to rock the pirate the world with four his favorite mateys. I can't wait! What is happening to me?
I'm horrible at birthdays. Really, I am. Neither of my kids have ever had anything that resembled a party and I rarely do anything nice for anyone on their birthday. I accept it as a weakness. Birthdays just aren't my thing. I'd even discussed this all earlier last week with two other friends.
Yet ...
Ever since then I have been scouring pinterest for ideas. And I'm actually really excited about my kids birthdays now. In fact, I can't stop thinking about them.
But I am a kid party virgin. I've been to a couple of parties, one for Reid's friend Oliver (his 4th) and his friend Parker (his 3rd) and one for Parker's little sister (turned one just weeks before Nell did) and my nephew Isaac's first and my niece Allie's second. That's it. Oh wait, I went to Jaedon's first and fourth and Livy's first, but that was years ago -- long before I had my own kids.
Well that was a random list to come up with in the middle of a blog, but I think back to all these parties to try and figure out if there are certain rules to kids parties. Of all those first and second birthdays all but two were just for family. The two that had friends only invited a couple close family friends. So that makes me wonder, do I just do a family party for Nell? Do I invite her friends? Do I invite my friends (the ones with little kids anyway)? This is why I don't do parties. I'm the kind of person who wants to invite everyone. I don't want anyone to feel left out. I still remember the stress of coming up with my list of 10 friends in fourth grade. I talked my mom into 11, because I knew one girl wouldn't be able to come. And even then I still have this clear image of the hurt in another friend's eyes when she realized she wasn't invited. Invites are such a pain, I just avoid them all together by not having parties.
Gifts are the other pain. Can I tell everyone to bring art supplies to donate to a charity in lieu of gifts? Is that acceptable? I love giving gifts, and I generally love receiving them ... but parties make me feel like I am asking for them. And that has always made me uncomfortable. On the flip side of that, I don't feel like people are asking me for gifts when I get invited to parties. Yes, gifts are an obvious part of attending any party (weddings, showers or birthdays) but I'm not offended by the idea that I should bring one. So why do I despise having others bring them? I really don't know the answer to that question. But it is one of my big kid birthday party hang ups (the other being who to invite).
All this rambling probably makes me sound like I'm way over thinking this. But didn't I already admit that I am? I really cannot stop thinking about these birthday parties!
So stay tuned and find out how things go. Even if it is just the four of us, Nell is going to have a fun art themed Birthday and Reid is going to rock the pirate the world with four his favorite mateys. I can't wait! What is happening to me?
1 comment:
Twenty two days and counting down for little Miss Nell! So many decisions to make!! She will love it no matter what you do for her. Happy Birthday to be Miss Nelly Belly!
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