Little Bear turns 2
My precious little bear turned 2 years old.
Wasn’t it was just yesterday that I sat waiting for him to be born? It feels like just an hour ago that we held his first birthday teddy bear picnic at Eden on Bay ?
Regardless of how time is clearly not on my side…bear continues to grow. So, we now have a two- nager in the home .
Blog pressure
Being completely out there on social media I had been torn between not making too much of a big deal about his birthday and finding someone to kill my budget and plan an Instagram worthy party to fill my feed for days.
After all people would be expecting a bear worthy party. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel any pressure to make a huge affair of Bear’s birthday.
It is almost expected that parents plan the party a year in advance and spend huge sums of money hiring party planners, order themed party cakes that rival wedding cakes and lose their mind on finding the perfect Thank you gift for the guests.
There have been reports of some South African birthday parties costing the same as a wedding and in today’s world where parenting and education costs are so high you have to wonder if we as parents couldn’t rather use those funds elsewhere.
After all you can still plan an amazing birthday party on a budget.
The pressure was on.
Regardless, the pressure was on and the weeks leading to Bear’s birthday I found myself falling into the birthday trap.
It started with an innocent visit to Pinterest…
Before I knew it I had a full party planned. I pinned a forest party fit for a pixie prince.
Next I was online pricing cakes and treats. Looking at printables and party pinatas. I spent hours trolling other moms parties.
I was looking for the perfect party ideas and trying to see if my budget was going to cover more than the cake.
Would I succumb to Instagram blogging pressure and over spend on a party bear wouldn’t remember for people whom we seldom see and don’t know ?
Or
Would I follow my heart and plan the party I knew he would enjoy and still not remember ?
My kind of party
My other bears all had awesome birthdays with colourful cupcakes and jelly oranges. Huge bowls of Nick nacks and as decorative a cake as we could afford or managed to make.
Some birthdays had themes and others just presents and cake.
But the one thing they all had was a loving family.
Party pressure
I never saw a problem with our parties until we moved to Cape Town in 2003 and my eldest son’s friends refused to eat my handmade blue and pink icing cup cakes in grade 1 because they weren’t bought at Woolies.
Right there and then I nearly choked on my birthday spirit and determined that I would never , even if I became a millionaire overnight, let my children miss out on lopsided cakes and brightly coloured icing on homemade cupcakes.
Fast forward many years and birthdays later and I still don’t go over the top. Whilst I can appreciate the beauty, hard work and creativity behind a perfectly planned party it still isn’t the type of parties I like.
( You just have to see our wedding to know how much I believe less is more)
A birthday is your day. A day when you are surrounded by those who love you to do things you enjoy and naturally get spoilt.
So as much as I would have enjoyed a hall set up for 20 kids with matching seat covers and goody bags, bear just wants to run and play. Those aqua bows tied so neatly to match the table cloth would have been lost under the gaze of 20 toddlers all fighting over the bubbles and only pepper pig figurine in the place.
So what did we do ?
I had an invite made and sent it to all the kids. When we all together there are 14 of us and that’s more than enough for a party.
I ordered matching t-shirts for us from I made it and we wore them on the day.
Bear spent the morning playing at a Play.lab workshop so he had spent time playing with other kids.
I got home and set to work baking bear a lopsided chocolate cake richly decorated in drippy chocolate sauce and hundreds and thousands.
There was no theme really but i did have balloons everywhere!
The food was simple …all bear’s favourites. Some fruit, cheese, viennas, chips and biscuits.
As party games we played with bear and everyone sat talking and laughing. Bear was surrounded by attention and our time….
Two of the most precious gifts you can give a child.
In conclusion
There is a lot of pressure on parents to out perform the last party their child attended. It’s great if you or your child want to and if you can afford it but i feel it has taught children to expect these elaborate events and neglected to teach gratitude for the simpler things in life.
Even if you host a simple birthday party your child will enjoy their birthday.
After all ….It is their day.