Birthday Parties

Now every since my son started having birthdays (granted it has only been 3 thus far), we have really only done the family parties. His first birthday we did invite others, but it was mostly people my husband and I knew and that also had small children around 1 year. We didn’t plan kid activities as the oldest child there was my son. We had a cook out at our home, had cake and ice cream, and decorated with streamers and balloons. Thing 1 had a nice time and I believe everyone else did as well. For his 2nd birthday we no longer lived close to family and had only been in the area for 6 months. My parents came to visit so we took Thing 1 to the aquarium, as he was really into Finding Nemo at the time. He also took homemade cupcakes to daycare to share with his friends. This year, I had just had Thing 2 (literally 9 days before Thing 1’s birthday), so we again did a family party, this time with both sets of grandparents and the new baby brother. We again had a cookout (in the rain), cake, ice cream, and gifts. I never felt that I would have to do a party with friends until he is in school, say at age 5 or 6.

My son is currently at a birthday party for one of his classmates. My husband took him while I stayed home with the little one (who is currently napping). Thing 1 is 3 years old and the little boy who is having the party is now 3 years old. The parents of said little boy decided to have the party at a place called The Bounce Zone. Since we have only lived in this area for 2 years, I decided to Google it and learn more about the party place. During my research I found that it costs $300 to have a child’s party there and that doesn’t include food. My son also has another party to attend next weekend at an athletic club (which I also researched). I found that particular party place to cost $230 and it also doesn’t include food.

To me the idea of having a party with friends is nice. I think Thing 1 will have a wonderful time at the party he is attending today, the one he will attend next week, and any party he does have that includes friends. I just never thought these types of parties started when a child turned 3. For one, the cost is huge. I would never be able to afford that sort of thing. I can think of much better uses for that money than to have a party for a whole bunch of 3 year olds who probably will not remember it when they are in their 30’s. When I was a kid, I had parties with friends. I remember having parties at the bowling alley or attending ones at Chuck E. Cheese (really Razz Ma Tazz, same difference, but I don’t even think they are around anymore). We would also go to the child’s home to have the party. I don’t recall a lot of planned out activities, just kids finding activities to do together on their own – you know playing outside on the swing set, red light green light, other outdoor games, or playing with the toys the child had who we were celebrating. Has this type of party left and now we are expected to pay $300 (for 2 hours) to rent a place to entertain our children for us for a birthday party? And then pay for food? Maybe I am cheap or old fashioned but I don’t think I will be forking over this amount of dough for my child. We will need to be more creative and find something that won’t break the bank for his parties.

50 Years

Fifty years ago today, they were married. They have had many ups and downs, raised 3 kids and worked hard. They have loved each other for more years and been married longer than most couples now-a-days. My parents’ 50th wedding anniversary is today. It is quite a feat I must say.

We celebrated with friends and family on Saturday. We presented my parents with a family tree plaque and had family photos taken, which hadn’t been done in years. It was amazing how many people came to share in the joy of an anniversary considering some were coming from a bit of a drive and some were much older (we had 2 that travelled about 2 hours and were both about 90 years old!). My parents had a wonderful time and were able to see people they hadn’t seen in years.

To my parents – Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary! May you celebrate many, many more.

Overwhelmed

I have been extremely busy and the slightest bit stressed this week. I am planning a 50th wedding anniversary open house that is to take place this weekend for my parents. We originally had a hall reserved and planned to have it catered, but with my Dad’s health issues and the surgery he had last month, we decided to tone it down – hence, the open house. Since I live halfway across the country from my family, I was only supposed to be in charge of the invitations; my brothers were going to do the rest (one lives in the same town as my parents and the other one is about a 3 hour drive from my hometown). Well, lets just say, brothers can be useless at times. Since they really didn’t plan anything, other than to reserve the hall then cancel the hall then tell my Mom about the surprise party we were having for her and my Dad but then cancelled, I took over the whole event. It is difficult and stressful to plan a party being so far away. I have been calling people to order food, cake, and gifts – hoping it all works out and people don’t just “forget” that I am in their books to pick stuff up. I have already spent tons out of my own pocket and I haven’t even paid for the food yet. My brothers are planning to pitch in a portion so we each pay a 1/3rd for the party and gifts. I am hoping they pay me before we fly back home on Tuesday as I don’t have much extra cash to pay for a party all by my onesies.

Luckily I have a great friend who is helping me out with the whole soiree. She recommended a place for me to get a cake for the party and even went to the bakery to take pictures of the cakes and e-mailed them to me. She plans to pick up the cake for me and drive it to my parents’ home. I also found out that my Dad’s side of the family is planning to use this party as their yearly reunion. It will be nice to see family that I haven’t seen in years although a bit overwhelming as I hope I will have enough food, seating, etc.

If the anniversary party wasn’t enough, Thing 2 will have his baptism this weekend. Yes, another party and family event. He will be baptized along with his cousin who is 2 months younger than him at their church. We are the godparents for our new nephew and The Mr.’s brother and his wife will be godparents to Thing 2. It is nice that we will be able to have both baptized at the same time and in the same church (we had to do some planning ahead of time and have our church write a letter stating that Thing 2 could be baptized in the other church – both Catholic, however). Also on the positive side, my sister-in-law is taking care of the lunch after the baptism at her home so I don’t have to do much for that except show up. I thank her tremendously for this as I don’t think I could plan two events for the same weekend without going crazy!

I will be sure to let you know how the parties go, unless I pass out from exhaustion beforehand!