I mean, really? How ridiculous. I only just went into labour. He only just arrived (and gave us that week long scare in the SCBU, long story!) We only just brought him home and placed him in his moses basket. Sob sob sob!!
Am distracting myself with party planning. I'm mediocre at best at raising kids but party planning?? THAT'S my true God-given talent. I can plan the fuck out of a party!!
(I will excuse the missing apostrophe in this, because it is so true!)
It started back in January when I decided on a venue and therefore the theme. I quickly sent out save-the-date texts incase anyone forgot when my child had been born (you laugh, but it has happened and it was FAMILY members, grr!)
Then came the personalised birthday t-shirt (this had to be ordered early because it came from USA, there's a gap in the market for anyone interested...!)
and the designed invites...
(can you see the theme yet?!)
Then started the long, tedious job of finding party bag items that were a) themed and b) not tat. This is harder than you'd think. I almost hit a brick wall with icecream rubbers from Japan costing £3.50 each but then JOY found them on sale in a random store in Bristol a few weekends ago for 20p each. That was probably the oddest item I've ever bought as a 'souvenir' on a trip away, 34 tiny ice cream rubbers, thanks very much!
(Party bag asembly line, no comments necessary, that's my Husband's job and he's already excelled himself...!)
(Finished product for a 5 year old. Yes they're age appropriate and yes that is ice cream ribbon, what??)
Next we turn our attentions to the cake. As I've mentioned before, we chose our children's godparents very carefully, one of them is a master-baker!! I leave final decisions in her capable hands but sent her a lot of pictures and ideas, can't wait to see what's she come up with...
Balloons have been ordered from the party shop in town. Presents have been hastily ordered and just need wrapping this evening (the only issue with spending so much time and energy planning the party is that sometimes you forget to buy, you know, an actual gift, oops!)
I've just got to remember to take a photo of Baby on the moment he turns 2. Boy's birthday photos are always easy because they're in the middle of the night, all I have to do is set an alarm and get out of bed in order to snap the magical moment. Baby is a bit more tricky because he arrived at 5.15pm when all kinds of things are going on and it would be really easy to forget. Have set alarms on my phone, Husband's phone and Nana's phone. Please don't let me forget the one most important thing!!
So there you have it. How to plan a party in 5 easy steps. You'll need some serious pen and paper action going on for lists and a Husband who can be easily distracted from the credit card bill (I find taking your top off works...?)
It's all superfluous, of course, and totally excessive. I have no qualms in justifying why my children only get 4 presents at birthdays and Christmas but for some bizarre reason I just can't help myself when it comes to parties. I guess it's because I only get to throw 3 for each child (long story!) and I want them to be wonderful celebrations. I also love my friends and their children and want them to have an epic day out if they've kindly agreed to spend some of their precious family time at my child's birthday party (because, let's face it, birthday parties can be a bit wank!)
I do sometimes wonder if it's because my Dad isn't here? Maybe it's my chance to over-compensate a bit, and family celebrations are always the times when I miss him most. He would have been the heart and soul of each birthday, spend all day carrying Baby around, chatting and playing with his friends...I can't bear to think about it because it breaks my heart. So maybe I distract myself and the children from that too? The unspoken absence. Who knows? Maybe I just like spending money on stuff...!!
Right, have to nip to Waitrose to buy Posh Mama some lunch and then spend some time finding a baby toy for a guest who IS coming after all but probably won't appreciate bubbles or pens. No pressure!!
Have a wonderful Friday, and I shall try and take some blog-appropriate photos of tomorrow. Here's to too much icecream and sicky kids!!
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