… that is the question.
My not so little man will shortly be turning two and so the question that has come up a number of times, is do we throw him a party or do we not throw him a party?
When I didn’t have children I thought the idea of a birthday party for babies and toddlers was ridiculous. What on earth would they remember? I always used to say that i would just wrap up the toys they already have or give them nappies for Christmas (harsh, no?). Anyway, since having Max things obviously changed. Then his first birthday approached and the husband and I put a lot of thought into what we should do to celebrate and the idea of a party for him sounded more and more appealing.
In the end, we decided that it was a bit pointless for a one year old and we just had a special weekend with grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins, visiting a few places and of course having cake, presents and a birthday tea. I was very happy with what we did for him and thought it was totally appropriate for his age. One of the things we did was go to a soft play and he loved it – especially having his cousin with him and grandparents playing with him too. I just thought, can’t even walk yet, he doesn’t really need a birthday party.
Am I being a grumpy mum? Do you think that all children should have parties, whatever age?
I grew up with birthday parties every year but they started from when we were school age so we had lots of friends to invite and we can have a bit of a say in what we did (swimming party, soft play, sleepover etc). I guess there is the element of cost too, though I know there are parties that don’t have to be too expensive, but for us, we found that for a one year old (and quite possibly two year old), justifying the cost was quite hard. It’s not that we don’t want to celebrate his birthday, just don’t feel it’s necessary for a full on invites, party bags, hiring out somewhere type of thing.
There are some fabulous ideas on Pinterest and other blogs about birthday party themes and I do love planning a good party, but for now, for us, I think the proper ‘parties’ will wait for a few years.
Rebecca x
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Great post, everyone I know is hiring halls for their babies first birthdays! I think small houses are a big reason, as I’m sure all family members want to see the little one. Luckily our little boys first birthday will be next September the 18th, we are just going to celebrate a week early and hopefully use our garden 🙂
Thats such a good idea – when its good weather you can hit the park or garden and makes things easier. With a December birthday its a bit trickier! Thanks for your comment 🙂
I am such a scrooge when it comes to birthday parties! His favourite people are his cousins, so I just think until he has actual friends we’ll just take him to do his favourite thing and hang with his cousins. I think parties can be a bit stressful for parents and overwhelm the child…but maybe I’m just being tight! lol xx
I totally agree with you, very overwhelming for them. We do something to mark the occasoon, just not invites, hiring somewhere, party bags etc xx
Really tricky but honestly when they are little I think that the parties are more for us than them. We generally have the family round for presents and then see friends with kiddies on a different day. The kids don’t remember the parties yet anyway and, our Monkey just turned 2 last week, don’t really understand what birthdays are. A couple of my friends’ kids just turned three, and they sort of get it, but we still just had a joint outing to the park for theirs. We went to a 4 yr old’s birthday party recently which was great and the kids were loving it, so we may do something small when he’s 3, but I think we’ll save proper parties for age 4 upwards, when they really understand it and enjoy it. Having said that though I did feel slightly despondent on Monkey’s actual birthday by the fact we weren’t doing anything special. he knew no different, but i did, so maybe it’s worth celebrating for your own sake? Interesting post! (Sorry for the long rambling comment) xx #mmwbh
That’s true, a lot of it is for the parents. I just think it’s better when they have lots of friends to celebrate with too x
My son is going to be 4 next month. We haven’t had any party for him. The things is we dont know anyone here. Its just really us. He started school but its still not good enough number as we dont know any of the other parents. We wanted to have a party but we are scared that no one would come. We said that we will do the party next year and savor thsi birthday with just us parents. I dont feel guilty at all. I think that parties are nice but when he doesnt anyone who will attend its going to be futile. Next year is his primary school so he will probably have friends. That party will be better as he knows people. It is okay to not have party this early. Its nicer to spend it together with the closest people in the child life, you parent =) #mmwbh
That’s good – no need to feel guilty is there? They have no memory of it and it’s better when they can celebrate with friends.
I love a good party, but I think for a one year old your doing it more for yourself, aren’t you? They aren’t going to remember a THING, not a single moment of that day when they get older, so why go all out! I read there people hire HALLS for their first birthdays, WHY!? lol. Madness. Humans eh…we are a crazy race I tell you! Fab post hun, thanks so much for linking up! #MMWBH xx
Thanks for hosting! x