Turning 1 drains your bank account....

OK….granted….I don’t remember my first birthday party at all….but when did it become necessary to through huge bashes for a one year old!?! I mean…to reiterate…you don’t remember your first birthday AT ALL! My DH and I have always been the ones to kind of go against the grain when it came to these huge parties….well….at least the grain of what normally goes on the east coast. I only say the east coast cuz when I was in Cali…I never heard of all this outrageousness. Families rent catering halls for birthdays, graduation parties, christenings, showers of all types….and the number of people and amount of gifts!!! OMG! We’re going to invite our second cousins three times removed….even though we don’t know them or don’t really like them because if we don’t…they’ll tell our first cousinswho will tell our great aunts and there is a whole HULLABULLOO about why someone wasn’t invited!! Our engagement party was at our house, we only invited close friends and aunts and uncles to my baby shower, our christening was just his sister’s family (3) and his parents…..so how did we get so caught up in a HUGE party of 50+ people, plus about 15 kids, for my son, H’s, first birthday?
It definitely started out being a small party…at our house, a nice BBQ, close friends, some family, with some kids…and it kept growing and growing. We got a tent for the backyard, old friends kept popping up on facebook that we would invite, we met some neighbors with kids…and next thing you know…50 people, 15 kids. As crazy as it got, as big as it got, i have to admit that i couldn’t help getting caught up in the planning, the decorating. And the closer the party got, the more i wanted to do. More decorations, fancier cake, more food, lets make margaritas, sangria, wine, beer, (wait…isn’t this a kids party?) I saw H getting bigger and bigger and taking those first little steps and the party just followed, getting bigger and bigger….
I hold my head now and look at my credit card bill and wonder “WTF was i thinking?” But every time i look at those pics, look at the cake i made for him, look at how much fun he had….it was all worth it. I mean yeah, he’s not going to remember a damn thing from it….but we will. He’s growing so big, and so fast….i mean….it’s been a YEAR! A YEAR!! That party wasn’t for him, i realize,…it was for US! And gosh darned it…we deserve it!! It was a huge pat on the back saying “Holy crap! We made it through a year of parenting and H is still here!! And healthy! And happy! And by God if he doesn’t still smile at me when I go to get him in the morning, even if i tortured him by making him nap, not letting him watch one more episode of Micky Mouse, or didn’t catch him in time when he toddled. It’s been a year….and he still loves me!”
So…throw the big party, have TWO pieces of cake, toast to your child’s first birthday. Cuz damnit if you don’t deserve it, Mommas!
OK….granted….I don’t remember my first birthday party at all….but when did it become necessary to through huge bashes for a one year old!?! I mean…to reiterate…you don’t remember your first birthday AT ALL! My DH and I have always been the ones to kind of go against the grain when it came to these huge parties….well….at least the grain of what normally goes on the east coast. I only say the east coast cuz when I was in Cali…I never heard of all this outrageousness. Families rent catering halls for birthdays, graduation parties, christenings, showers of all types….and the number of people and amount of gifts!!! OMG! We’re going to invite our second cousins three times removed….even though we don’t know them or don’t really like them because if we don’t…they’ll tell our first cousinswho will tell our great aunts and there is a whole HULLABULLOO about why someone wasn’t invited!! Our engagement party was at our house, we only invited close friends and aunts and uncles to my baby shower, our christening was just his sister’s family (3) and his parents…..so how did we get so caught up in a HUGE party of 50+ people, plus about 15 kids, for my son, H’s, first birthday?
It definitely started out being a small party…at our house, a nice BBQ, close friends, some family, with some kids…and it kept growing and growing. We got a tent for the backyard, old friends kept popping up on facebook that we would invite, we met some neighbors with kids…and next thing you know…50 people, 15 kids. As crazy as it got, as big as it got, i have to admit that i couldn’t help getting caught up in the planning, the decorating. And the closer the party got, the more i wanted to do. More decorations, fancier cake, more food, lets make margaritas, sangria, wine, beer, (wait…isn’t this a kids party?) I saw H getting bigger and bigger and taking those first little steps and the party just followed, getting bigger and bigger….
I hold my head now and look at my credit card bill and wonder “WTF was i thinking?” But every time i look at those pics, look at the cake i made for him, look at how much fun he had….it was all worth it. I mean yeah, he’s not going to remember a damn thing from it….but we will. He’s growing so big, and so fast….i mean….it’s been a YEAR! A YEAR!! That party wasn’t for him, i realize,…it was for US! And gosh darned it…we deserve it!! It was a huge pat on the back saying “Holy crap! We made it through a year of parenting and H is still here!! And healthy! And happy! And by God if he doesn’t still smile at me when I go to get him in the morning, even if i tortured him by making him nap, not letting him watch one more episode of Micky Mouse, or didn’t catch him in time when he toddled. It’s been a year….and he still loves me!”
So…throw the big party, have TWO pieces of cake, toast to your child’s first birthday. Cuz damnit if you don’t deserve it, Mommas!