We are not big birthday party people. In 6 children’s birthdays, we’ve only had 2 parties, one for each girl at 3 years old. I don’t believe in the big blowout for a year old, the child won’t remember and I got all the pictures I wanted without all the stress and drama. We waited until 3 years old to do a birthday party because this is when they actually started caring (and when both girls turned 2 we had just recently relocated and didn’t have a lot of friends yet).
When we do have birthday parties, I keep them low key. I’m a believer in the theory of inviting an equal number of children to the birthday being celebrated (so 3 friends for a 3rd birthday). Of course, for 3 year olds, we invite the families also. We keep it extremely low key We have the party at home in the late afternoon, we do simple activities, I serve dinner and we do cake. No presents necessary.
For Honeybun’s 3rd birthday we were in Dublin. We let the kids play in our small garden and did “body” painting. I bought onesies/large t-shirts for each child and a big plastic table cloth. I squirted tempura paint all over the tablecloth and let them paint all over. I also had a large plastic tub of water and some washcloths for them to clean off when they were done. Everyone loved it!
For Sugarplum’s recent party we did some gluing arts and crafts and then went swimming. I threw a bunch of balloons in the pool and the kids had a great time just playing together.
I don’t think birthdays have to be a big, expensive, stressful event. I think birthdays should be about celebrating how big our children are getting and enjoying each other’s company. I don’t feel the need to compete with what other parents are doing for their kids and my children don’t seem disappointed in how we celebrate.
