I’m currently knee-deep in planning my daughter’s first birthday. Yes, I’m one of those moms who started planning the party six months ahead of time. I’m also one of those moms who hasn’t *actually* done anything for the party until the last minute. It’s a nice recipe for panic, don’t you think?
I have the theme chosen, the food picked out, the invitations sent, and I’m doing my please-don’t-rain dance every day because it’s going to be outside and I have no Plan B. Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way about baby’s first birthday.
Pinterest can be your best friend.
There are some really creative people out there! I’m super glad for that, because I’m not one of them. I am, however, a great copy-cat! My child’s birthday party will be brought to you by Pinterest and I’m not at all ashamed of that.
Pinterest can be your worst enemy.
These creative people? Where do they come from? Do they not have jobs? Lives? Children? Dogs? How in the world do they have the time to hand-glue all those teeny tiny flowers around a wire and drape it from the ceiling and then take awesome pictures with their super fancy camera? I may have had a meltdown or two because I was bitten by the “I must make everything for the party and it must be perfect but I don’t have the time!!!” bug.
Because yes, The party is for the mom.
Currently, my daughter’s new game is to stand at her bookshelf and take all the books off one by one. She loves it and I don’t mind playing that ‘game’ with her. Several times a day, I put the books back on the shelf, she takes them off, I put them back, etc. It’s a great way to pass the time and I’m sure that she wouldn’t mind spending the day doing just that. She doesn’t really need a homemade cake that *simply must* look professional. She doesn’t need fancy activities. She doesn’t need the perfect food. But guess what? I DO.
Therefore, Try to find a balance.
Yes, the pictures will be forever. However, the most important thing is to remember what you’re celebrating – you’ve just made it an entire year as a parent and your child is still in one piece! Pat yourself on the back and have a glass of wine – my current treat are Girl Scout cookies. What in the world do they put in those Samoas?
Babies have incredibly low standards – they pretty much need food and love and they’re happy. It’s really a beautiful thing.
I’m trying to remind myself of that as I hand-glue tiny flowers or make her cake for the third time because I have to practice and it has to be perfect.
Feel free to leave your tips and stories about your baby’s first birthday party in the comments! How did you make it? Was there lots of wine?
I just had my son’s first birthday last week, and I completely understand what you’re going through! About 3 days before the family party, I hadn’t had a single person RSVP except for my parents and in-laws. I’d spent 4 months planning only to find out it’d be just the 6 of us plus the Birthday Boy. I had a meltdown. In the end it all came together and was a great time for everyone (I hope!), but boy can it be stressful. And the funny thing is, I didn’t think I’d actually cared that much!
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http://www.thetshirtmama.com/2012/03/its-all-in-details.html)
I’m already getting annoyed that people aren’t rsvp’ing sooner! I put a deadline on the invitation and you can bet that the very next day I’m going to be making some phone calls! 🙂