Ronni was initially raised as an only child. I've changed a lot since then, but even for his first birthday... I felt like I needed to invite every. single. person that loved him. We actually had a party at his uncle's house that included my father's side of the family and his father's father's side of the family. (We both had divorced parents so gatherings were... difficult.) I also had a very small party at my mother's house and we also celebrated at his father's mother's house. Talk about a stressful mess!
As he got just a little bit older, we held a picnic and told everyone they could come or not! Still, we felt the need to invite everyone we knew. After all, that means more presents! And yet we'd complain about all the crap we'd have to load up to take home, too.
Ronni's 7th Birthday Party
I'm older and (I'd like to think) wiser now. Last year my girls had their birthday parties a day apart (they're actual birthdays are 2 days apart) at a local park. We invited family and a handful of friends to each. We had water and cupcakes. There was a playground for entertainment. It wound up being cold (darned September birthdays, you never can tell what to expect), but the parties were fine. Not stellar, but fine. Best of all? They were low stress!
Sasha's 2nd Birthday Party
Notice the simple, homemade cake?
September is coming up again and I'm starting to think about how to do their celebrations this year... I definitely plan to keep it simple again! How do you celebrate your kids' birthdays?
Thank you for visiting the Simply Living Blog Carnival cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. Read about how others are incorporating simple living and parenthood. We hope you will join us next month when we discuss Money Matters!- Parties - sustainablemum explains how and why she keeps her birthday celebrations for her eldest a simple affair at his behest.
- Simple Birthday Celebrations - Birthdays are kept simple at Living Peacefully with Children. Mandy shares how her family celebrates birthdays without the stress and expense.
- Countdown to a Simple Christmas - Start now to prepare your house and home for the holidays. Steps to take each month to enjoy a much simpler approach to Christmas.
- Simply Celebrate - Jorje has tried celebrating kid birthdays BIG and small... which one do you think was more simple? less stressful?
- That's a Wrap - At Parentwin, Darlena describes her experiences with wrapping gifts and how she has changed her ideals when it comes to gift giving.
- Simple Celebrations - Laura at Authentic parenting shares how her family keeps celebrations simple.
