Even without the pandemic though, me and my husband already knew how we will celebrate our child’s first birthday. We wanted it to be simple with just a few kids around. We wanted for him a simple, small, specifically tailored for children event where they can truly have fun while being mindful of their need for rest.
A “forest” picnic at our backyard with the sound of the chirping birds was the bes t option since we cannot yet go to the beach. We planned for an event where:
- There are no balloons because we are trying to raise an environment-conscious child. We want to normalize not having balloons in our celebrations. Even our wedding did not include balloons. Whilst we cannot fully get rid of plastics in our life, we are trying to remove the non-essential plastics especially those that can only be used once and cannot be recycled.
- We don’t buy materials that can only be used once such as tarpaulins. The ONE banner was passed on to us by a friend whose son used it for his first birthday. We were more than happy to use it for our mini-tent set up. Also, in the future if we ever buy party decorations, we will either use it on several occasions or pass them on to others to maximize its use and minimize purchases of new ones.
- The food table is low enough so that every child regardless of age can independently access the food and choose what they like without needing help from an adult. I used recycled boxes covered with old curtains as our food table because we don’t have tables low enough for the kids. The empty boxes worked well, though unfortunately I wasn’t able to take a photo of the set up.
- Various toys and books for all ages are provided so every child can freely choose what to play with or read.
- An area is available for them to lay down or rest whenever they feel tired.
- They can help in some of the preparations while exercising their creativity and having fun. I let them help in arranging the flowers that will be placed on the food table.
- The food includes healthy options presented in an appealing way. In fact, the party was so simple we only served fried chicken, pancit, cake, and fruit barbeque.
I baked our child’s sugar-free birthday cake so he can actually eat it as much as he likes. During this pandemic, I baked a lot as was everybody else I think. At first, I thought of ordering a fancy cake from an established baker but a cake can be extremely expensive, which is understandable because it takes so much time and effort to make one. I wasn’t keen on spending that much money for his birthday cake and also, we only really need a simple cake that we all can enjoy so I decided to bake it myself instead.
I also baked cake for the adults who weren’t invited because we only invited their kids. I baked 10 cakes to be given to every family and let their kids put on the icing. They had fun designing their cake as much as we had fun watching them get creative!
Our hope is for our child to grow up valuing relationships and experiences more than the glamour of an overly decorated party. This isn’t to say that throwing a huge party is wrong. I mean, why not if you have that much money. What we hope for is to normalize simple celebrations in our family, whilst also hoping others would be inspired and get the pressure of throwing huge parties off of their shoulders. I know some people who feel sad thinking they failed as parents because they cannot give their kids fancy parties and that’s what we hope to change, to assure them that whether you can afford it or not, it’s okay to celebrate as family in the simplest way possible.
Someday, maybe next year even, our child will get to have a say or decide on how he will want to celebrate his birthday. Hey may opt for a huge party or just the three of us, we’ll see. For now, we designed his first birthday celebration in such a way that he can truly enjoy his day and not get stressed out by being carried and passed on by lots of guests which is usually the case with adult-led parties. I’ve attended huge toddler parties and I noticed that some kids were forced sit on the adult’s laps for photo ops even if they were already tired or sleepy. We didn’t want that for our child. It’s his birthday so we wanted it to be relaxing and fun for him. There was no long, tiresome photo shoots which is also why we didn’t have much photos taken on that day because we were busy having fun.
Lastly, the budget that we would have spent on a huge birthday party (or his monthsary celebration) was used to renovate a former storage space into a playhouse which was actually a better way to spend because our son, and our cousins, are able to benefit from the playhouse for several years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment