The Birthday
MommyX posted 5 weeks 5 days ago —
I have two kids...Kiddy Y and Kiddy Z. Suffice to say they are not babies anymore (of course they will always be my babies). In fact Kiddy Z has a milestone birthday today...he turns 5!! I consider 5 to be milestone because it's half way 10! I always have mixed feeling on their birthdays..happy that they are growing up and sad that they are growing up. Where has the time gone? I was in a urban baby store yesterday and there wasn't a single thing that was for my children..even the books seemed too juvenile already.
Kiddy Z has been patiently waiting for his birthday since Kiddy Y had his birthday last December! He even made sure I ordered his 'soccer cake' when I ordered the 'hockey cake' for Kiddy Y almost 6 months ago. Of course I told him I ordered the cake but when he reminded me about it yesterday I was frantically on the phone praying that the grocery store had the 'scoccer toys' in stock for the cake. Thank goodness they did...crisis averted! Now all I have to do is make cupcakes for camp!
Presents are another whole issue in our house as well. Our kiddies have a basement and two bedrooms full of toys. We have Hot Wheels, Mega Rig, Action Figures, Lego, Webkinz, Transformers, Nintendo DS, Pokemon and the current fave...Bakugan. So when The Daddy and I asked Kiddy Z what he wanted for his birthday...he couldn't think of anything!!! Nothing..not one thing! And don't start thinking it's because he's a sweet child who just want's a cake and his friends around...BTW we've already had a giant birthday party with 15 friends at an indoor playground before school ended!! It's because they already have everything! When he finally came up with an idea, it was one Bakugan figure available only on e-bay (Kiddy Y is e-bay savy already)! One little transforming plastic ball would have cost me about $40!! No way...not a chance...not this time! I don't really care if it's a rare delta hydranoid....what happened to the days of Tinker Toys and Tiddlywinks?
Why is the birthday present so complicated...or have we made it complicated? Is it time to own up to the fact that Kiddy Y and Kiddy Z are just plain spoiled?
I know exactly what you mean! Sometimes it's comforting to know that this is happening in other households too and other times I have to admit to myself that I (and the grandparents) have spoiled my children.
I decided a long time ago that the present I wanted to give my children each birthday was memories. (Actually, this was kind of an after thought.) I discovered my passion for party planning and decided that the time, energy and money I put into their party was their present.
Each birthday, since they can remember, I have spent weeks and even months fleshing out themed parities that portray the personality of my child for that given year. But it had to be “unique,” “creative” and “original.” I was never satisfied with the traditional themes and party supplies available in all the standard places. For example, when my son was young and his favorite cartoon was Scooby Doo we had a Detective Training Camp party. For his golden birthday we planned a city wide treasure hunt (Hunt for the Gold). More recent parties have included Life Styles of the Rich and Famous (complete with a limo ride and photo ops with life size cut outs of his favorite famous people) and Battle of the Bands.
I know for certain that within weeks (and for sure over the years) they would forget a material gift, even if it was the only thing they wanted and really, really cool like a Wii or a Bakugan figure, but they don’t forget their fabulous parties!
Parties can be expensive and some people might argue that it’s just another way to spoil children but I disagree. It doesn’t have to be expensive and I think parties and the planning involved enhance skills like creativity, self expression and encourage innovative fun.
I know that not everyone has the time to spend weeks planning a party so I am taking my passion and ideas and creating an e-boutique call Casual Panache where you can find products that are unique, fun, trendy and make it easy to host a fabulous party. It’s brand new and not my complete vision yet but we are adding new products and themes everyday. Check it out: www.casualpanache.com.