What comes before Part B? At our house, nothing

Tuesday, November 05, 2013

As our latest move in our quest to obtain the World's Worst Parents title, we've decided not to have a birthday party for Eli when he turns two years old on Sunday. At least, there won't be a big, themed, invite-everyone-we-know affair. We're going to keep it simple and invite his family over on his birthday for pizza and cake. There will be balloons and a few presents, but there won't be themed decor and corresponding invitations and treat bags. We are taking low-key to the max.

There are a few reasons for this. The biggest is that his birthday falls on the Remembrance Day long weekend this year, and a lot of people are going to be out of town on Sunday and just getting back on Monday. The following weekend, the local Christmas parades are happening (does November 16-17 feel obscenely early for Christmas parades to anyone else?) so a lot of families will be running around to those. And doing it two weeks late just seems pointless.

Plus...he's turning two. He's going to see his family and get a few presents and hear everyone sing him Happy Birthday - this is exciting for a two-year-old. It's not as though he's going to suffer PTSD because he didn't have a second birthday party. He knows, like, seven kids total and he hangs out with four of them at the sitter every day. Basically every day is a birthday party for Eli.

So there you have it. Worst, meanest, laziest parents ever. Instead, we're hoping to get together with some of Eli's little friends over the next few weeks so he still gets to hang out with his buddies, just not in a wild birthday bash scenario (but probably one that he'll enjoy just as much.)

One thing I want to establish with Eli from a young age is that holidays are about experiences, not huge 'dos and a million presents. Halloween is about carving a pumpkin, putting together a costume, and watching scary movies, not just about how much candy you can cram into your bag. Christmas is about baking cookies, listening to Kenny and Dolly and going for a drive to get hot chocolate and look at neighbourhood lights, not how many presents Santa brings.

That's not to say we are putting the kibosh on birthday parties - not at all! But right now, while he's so young, and this year in particular, with the long weekend throwing a wrench into things, I think we can make sure Eli still has a happy birthday and tons of fun without stressing too much over a Pinterest-caliber bash.

What do you think? Are we being horrible people?

(here is a picture of a "no party gorilla" because I did a Google image search for "no party" and this is what showed up, you're welcome) 


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10 comments

  1. Replies
    1. It would have been a pretty teeny party. I think he'll have more fun with his friends in a one-on-one situation anyway!

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  2. Best parents EVAR. Seriously though, you are instilling a quiet peace in your child, family time is so important. I'm not a parent, but not encouraging over-indulgence is always a good thing in my books. Good on ya. :) Seems like a pretty happy kid to me. Also: Happy early birthday, ELI!

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    1. We're definitely trying...it's a hard balance to strike but I really want him to appreciate special times for reasons other than 'stuff'. I see kids asking Santa for a new laptop, ipad, ipod AND xbox and I want to barf.

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  3. My son will be 5 in January and he has never had a birthday party with friends. We have usually just invited grandparents over for cake. We have a hard time too because his birthday is on New Year's Day, so not many people are around to come, even family. So we are in line for Worst Parents award too! haha

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    1. I never had a birthday party until I went to kindergarten! And I don't want to be like, "I never had this so YOU aren't going to have it either!" with him...but I survived :) Hopefully we'll have more luck with it next year! When your little guy gets older, though, he'll be able to have the best birthday/New Years parties!

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  4. Nope, that is not a parenting fail at all. In my opinion, at that age, a little bit of "hoop-la" is enough to make him feel special.

    According to all of the facebook pictures I saw around Halloween, I had my first parenting fail; I didn't dress Cameron up for Halloween. I didn't really see the point in it for the sake of a few pictures.

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    1. It's Pinterest that's making me feel this way! Everyone has an awesome party for their toddlers and we're just like...here, have a balloon! I know he'll have fun either way. And it's 99% because of the crappy holiday timing. But on the bright side, we get to spend a long weekend with the wee man, so that's going to be nice regardless!

      Ohhhh you're BAD to not dress Cameron up! Joking... We put a cowboy "costume" on Eli last year that was a plaid shirt, jeans, and a cowboy hat and he refused to wear the hat so he just looked like a kid. Complete waste of effort. This year was a lot more fun since he was actually into it!

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  5. Good on you for keeping it low key. Honestly, who remembers their birthday parties from before age 5 anyway? Even after that age, my favorite part was putting my hands and face in a cupcake (still is, to be honest). Plus, if you go big at age 2 you're setting the celebration bar pretty high for every occasion after that. Time spent with the little dude is the most important! :)

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    1. Exactly! We are keeping his expectations low from a young age :)
      We had a great day!

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