Without meaning to, we put off planning Kyle's birthday party this year until the last possible moment because January was insane. Days flew by at warp speed and before I knew it, his birthday was two weeks away. Last year for his small, family-only birthday dinner I designed invitations and matching thank you cards. This year: EVITE.
2012, calm down!
Anyway, we debated having one big crazy shindig with all the family and all the friends and all the school friends, but when we started tallying those numbers, we laughed out loud at ourselves. Our house is small and those numbers were OMG BIG so we split the two.
As you may remember, Kyle picked out a Toy Story cake for his class party and I wish I could have bottled his reaction when I showed up to his class with it.
Even though his home party was last-minute and (in my mind) low-key and without a theme, I was still stressed over all I had to do for it. Mainly, clean. Man, having to clean for company is annoying. Especially because you have to DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN AFTER THE COMPANY LEAVES. Evolution has got to get on that.
So, Mike surprised me with a housecleaner for the day. It was such a wonderful gift, and it's something we've never treated oureselves to but HOO BOY was it worth it. The house was so spotless, I nearly cancelled the party. Sorry guests! Our house is too clean for you! Come back in a few weeks when it's back to a normal level of filth! It really made all the rest of the party prep seem downright easy, and while it may seem weird (it's not even something I can wear or eat or EVEN HOLD), it's one of the best presents Mike has ever given me.
So, moving on, I like to suggest to anyone planning a party, to make a list (or Pinterest board?) with all your favorite ideas and then pick just 2-3 of them. You will have nice details and special touches but you won't be too overwhelmed to enjoy the event. This year, our things were:
1. The balloon room
This was actually Mike's idea, and it cost us less than $10 and was the biggest hit of the day. We did use an air compressor to blow all 200 balloons up, but I wouldn't suggest that because it would mean your husband has an air compressor and most likely ridiculous garage-related hobbies to go along with it. Anyway, we tossed all the balloons in our loft, which also helped get some of our party guests upstairs, to break up the crowd downstairs.
2. Favors!
I saw this idea on Pinterest and they seemed so easy and so cute and they were, in theory. In actuality, shovels were a bitch to find. I went everywhere and I finally settled on some seasonal ones in Target. (I really wanted shovels more like this, but I put off buying them until there was no time for shipping. ROOKIE MISTAKE!)
Still, they ended up really cute and the kids seemed to like them.
3. Happy kid.
Mainly, I just wanted Kyle to have fun and he did. OH DID HE. He asked me the very next morning when his next birthday party was going to be. He loved hanging with his buddies, opening his gifts (they were all fantastic, great job friends and family), and running around outside and around the house.
It was a good day.
I try not to hope much for Kyle because it's his life. I hope that he's happy, sure, and that he chooses good friends, but I want to be an advocate for his hopes and I think that means backing off my hopes a little bit. Still, I can't help but selfishly hope that this kid of mine continues to love his birthday as much as I love his birthday. Throwing parties, making a big deal over it, going overboard once a year in order to show my kid just how much I love him is something I've always wanted from parenthood and this year was a beautiful dreams-meet-reality moment.
Although, someone still needs to get upstairs and pop 200 balloons.
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Thanks to Natalie for taking the last photo and for all the other photos she took at the party. I will soon beg her for a CD of those photos and update this set!