When Pinterest was the new thing and I was on Mission Pin-All-The-Things, one of my first boards was dedicated to planning my middle daughter’s first birthday party. The decor, the invitations, the custom pillowcase dress (because 2014), the food, the cake, the favors – I had it all pinned and ready to duplicate.Even in those archaic pre-Pinterest days with my firstborn in 2011, I plotted my girl’s shindig for weeks. When my vision came to life, my mom walked in the room and said, “Wow. I had no idea you were doing this much.”
And so I strove for extravagant for every party I ever planned for my children for years, and also for an anniversary party for my parents. I did all the baking and made the decorations. I put together activities like face painting, made veggie trays that resembled Sesame Street characters, and designed and printed t-shirts. This was no literal circus in our backyard or one of those toddler celebrations that ran a $10k bill, mind you, but still, it was more work than the parties we were throwing and attending back in my day.
And while it stressed me out and I was always scrambling to finish it all at the last minute (often having pulled an all-nighter before the party) I loved it.
But last fall, we found ourselves in the midst of a particularly chaotic time. I knew I did not have time to plot my typical elaborate party, and it bugged me.I fretted over what to do for a few weeks. Then I sent out a message clearing a date, and we got together with just a few friends at a local hotel. We ordered pizza and let the kids play in the pool after they downed their grocery store cupcakes and juice boxes. Then our family spent the night at the hotel.It was an absolute blast, and I was well-rested and able to enjoy it.
Another bonus: I didn’t find a need to wrestle a balloon bouquet into my car.
This spring, we found ourselves in a similar situation for the middle’s celebration. During her March birthday, my husband and I were working around the clock. April was spent navigating health concerns for said daughter, and suddenly it was May and we still hadn’t really celebrated our sweet girl’s fifth birthday.So again, I messaged our friends and told them we would meet at my home for lunch after church and the kids could play in the hot tub if they wanted.
My daughter’s one request for her day was a mermaid tail cake. The party was so last-minute that I didn’t have a chance to order a cake from our local baker extraordinaire, so the task was left to me.I spent far too long molding and dying fondant, only to realize my cake was going to be a massive fail. I was about to pitch it in the trash and drive to the Walmart bakery, but I decided to keep trying. When my daughter saw the finished product, she simply whispered, “Wow.”
But aside from the homemade cake and a set of Ariel paper plates, there was nothing really defining this party’s mermaid theme. I placed them on the blue plastic tablecloth I found in my party supply bin and shrugged. Then I remembered I had picked up some craft kits and pencils fitting the mermaid theme in Target’s Dollar Spot for favors, so I counted it as a win.
The kids downed hamburgers, chips, fruit and cake (it was apparently edible), then played in about every room of the house before hitting the hot tub. From there, they played on the swings, in the sandbox, and ran through the sprinklers to wash off the sand.They loved every minute, and so did I.It wasn’t exactly the picture-perfect party I strive for, one that I like to write about in family albums so my kids will have evidence we did actually try. It was better.I can’t quit the Pinterest parties altogether, but I know our future celebrations won’t be particularly extraordinary.Because as the wise Pam Beesly-Halpert said in the finale of “The Office,” “There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kind of the point?” 😉
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