Anyone else feel a strong pressure to make your child’s birthday party over-the-top amazing? Everywhere you look on social media, you see birthday parties that are beautiful, so on theme and extravagant. I am not sure when it started, but it seems like parties are getting bigger and BIGGER.
Mom, I want to tell you now what I finally told myself: You do NOT have to keep up or compete with the moms around you or online! Your child’s party is not a reflection of how good of a mom you are. You have permission to do just what you feel comfortable with (mentally and financially!). If you know me, you know I love a good party and a good theme. And, I have been known to put together a very themed, fun party! So, if that is what you want to do and feel comfortable with, GO FOR IT!
This year, I felt myself really struggling with this though. I felt a lot of pressure to have the best party for Lu! We decided to do a construction theme and I went straight to Pinterest. I started a spreadsheet and immediately started trying to make sure everything would fit perfectly with the theme. I am not sure if it is just because of how strange, or full of pressure the last years have felt or what it was. But, I was not feeling it! I felt like nothing was enough and was getting really frustrated with myself.
So, maybe a month into planning, I gave myself permission to stop planning. I scratched the theme altogether and decided that the whole point was just to celebrate our boy. No one needed to be impressed. Nothing needed to be Instagram worthy. And the details of this party had nothing to do with my value as a mom or how much Lu would enjoy the day or feel celebrated. So, Lucian’s Favorite Things became the theme. We put some of his favorite characters on his cake and bought some plates that had his favorite movie on them. I bought chalk, bubbles, squirt guns and, of course, whoopie cushions! We invited his favorite people and that was it!
A few days before the party, Lucian asked me about decorations. I took him to Party City and let him pick anything he wanted. This may become a tradition in our home. I am sure at some point, he may have a favorite thing and a strong theme. But this year it was a mix of planets, Paw Patrol and a Tiki Man. 🙂 I loved getting to take him to the store and just watch what he was excited about. This was a last minute idea, but it was the best treat for me! And of course, he was so happy!
We did do three things that were a little “extra” though. We made Lucian temporary tattoos. I grabbed this paper from Amazon and printed them with a laser printer. I highly recommend this! They turned out so cute and were pretty great quality too!! Don’t mind me… I will now be making custom tattoos for every event!! My mom makes all of her grandkids a shirt each year with their number on it. Lu wore his 2 Hawaiian shirt at least 100 times last year. And this one turned out so cute too! I ordered these paint pens and grabbed some extra rocks from the hardware store. This is my favorite thing we did. Lucian has a rock bin, so we asked everyone to paint one of his rocks. His rock bin got a serious upgrade and the different pictures not only remind him of his people but also promote lots of fun play and pretending!
Guys, we had the absolute best day with family and friends. Lucian played so hard and really enjoyed his people! I highly recommend taking it easy on your party planning. Of course, if you just want to go big, do it! But if you are feeling a lot of pressure, are busy or just don’t have it in you this year… I am giving you my full permission to buy some themed plates, make a box mix cake, get a few balloons and just celebrate your little one with friends and/or family. I can from experience say, it will be the perfect way to celebrate your little one!
Love you, Lu. You make our world so much brighter! You make us laugh so much and I really believe the world is already better because of you. I can’t wait to see what is to come.
