Courtesy of Autumn Gavora
As August crept up on me, I found myself at an impasse as to what to do for my son’s second birthday. Do I throw a birthday party for him with a bunch of people he doesn’t know, spending a ton of money to impress everyone, or do I keep it simple with a family lunch surrounded by the ones he knows and loves? When put simply, you would think the answer came easily. However, did not.
For months, I debated these two options while scrolling through Pinterest. I created boards with ideas for extravagant toddler birthday parties, complete with huge balloon arches, inflatable bounce house forts, a grazing lunch spread, and, of course, a few two-tiered cakes.
Then the themes came into play: should we do his favorite character, a color-focused theme, or even an ecological theme with huge whale shark balloons? The budget was the next thing to consider. Did you know that a balloon arch can cost more than $200?! The deeper I went into planning, the more it made me feel like I was on the prom committee rather than planning a party for a 2-year-old.
I realized that the party would be more for me than for him
As a mother, I realized one of the most significant duties we have is making sure our children are taken care of. We want them to have the best of everything, including the greatest birthday party ever. All I wanted to do was go above and beyond for my son. I ended up drowning in a sea of options when it came to balloons, party favors, bounce houses, and hired superheroes.
Ultimately, though, I realized all of the extravagance would be for me, not for him. All my son wants is for his family to be there with him. At this age, he doesn’t even understand that it is his birthday — he only knows that we’re all here and happy to be with him. For all my deliberating, in the end, I decided not to throw a birthday party for my son’s second birthday.
Courtesy of Autumn Gavora
Instead of having a party, we spent time with family all weekend
With his birthday past us, I do not regret my decision whatsoever. Not only did we save hundreds of dollars by not throwing a birthday party, but we also ended up making great memories. My boy is 2, and he had a fantastic, celebratory weekend. We turned his birthday into a four-day weekend filled with lots of laughter, adventures, and play.
My husband took the Friday before his birthday off from work to spend the day with our son. They went to an indoor toddler playground, followed by a lunch date. On Saturday, we had our family lunch with his great-grandparents, his Nana, Papa, and Grandpa. All that was missing was my dad, Papa John.
I made a charcuterie board, a fruit and veggie platter, and ordered some sandwiches. The cake was a single-tier birthday cake from our grocery store bakery, under $30. I used a beautiful customized cake topper that I’d found on Etsy for just under $15.
Courtesy of Autumn Gavora
The lunch was seriously one of the best moments. Our son was so happy when everyone sang for him, and I will forever cherish those moments with his great-grandparents. We had a park playdate scheduled on Sunday, his actual birthday, but had to reschedule due to a storm, and instead had an indoor family movie day and played all sorts of games. I took Monday off to close out his birthday weekend. We met one of his friends at a local art studio that has “Toddler Monday” for $6. The big 2-year-old got to paint for the first time!
We made memories without the stress of planning a party
The best part about all of this is that he had such a great time. As parents, we had little to no stress about planning anything, and there was minimal cleanup. We also did not have to spend exorbitant amounts of money trying to throw a party.
One of the greatest joys in life is watching your child grow up. Before I became a mom, I never understood that statement. Here I am, two years into motherhood and soaking in every second of it. His birthday this year has taught me that it isn’t about how much money you spend or how big a party you throw, it’s about the time you get to spend together and the memories you make.
The post I almost got swept up in the excitement of throwing a birthday party for my 2-year-old. I’m so glad we skipped it. appeared first on Business Insider.
