I am a planner. And I love themes. So birthdays are a big deal in this house! For Kaitlyn, I did a birthday party every year from her first to her tenth, which I never started planning later than February (her birthday is May 10th). We had matching plates, cups and tablecloths, crafts, games, a cake I ordered a week in advance, and balloons I ordered days in advance (I had a spreadsheet to keep track of it all)! My husband knew he was in trouble when Kaitlyn turned two, and I had a ladybug party. I justified all of the decorative ladybugs by saying it would become her room theme. :) For her third birthday, we had a Wiggles theme - and I made Fruit Salad (yummy yummy) and Crunchy Munchy Honeycakes. Seriously. When she was four and I was pregnant with Tyler, we did Disney Princesses - and in addition to the cake I made cookie wands. (For family mind you - no class parties until she was six...) At five we did Dora the Explorer, and tried to make our own pinata, which didn't dry by her party, so we just invited everyone over two weeks later for Memorial Day to break it open. It was shaped like a balloon. At six (her first friend party), we had a horse theme, and my husband (it only took me four years to drag him down), saw cut a cow head out of plywood and painted it to look just like the cows in "The Big Red Barn." We used a jump rope tied to a hula hoop to lasso the head, which was attached with bolts to two wooden sawhorses. (Having a husband who does construction for a living comes in very handy when planning birthday parties!) At seven it was a Pajama Party - no sleepover, just come in your pajamas to play. We played the longest game of bingo ever. With the caged balls that each girl rolled around and called out. At eight it was a garden party where we all made stepping stones (again, construction husband helped with the concrete mixture...) At nine we had a soccer party - we were in the process of moving, so we held it at our church. We made these pins that used safety pins and beads to make a picture of a soccer ball, which I had skillfully graphed out to make sure it worked. I also had ribbons pre-printed with stickers for each of the winners of the games. And finally, for her tenth birthday, we did a Beach Party (did I mention it rained?) Where we had sand art, decorated flip flops, and numerous water games that we had to play on the covered porch. So ten seemed like a natural end to the big time party scene, and despite Kaitlyn's pleading, I determined we would have no themed party for eleven!
Enter her eleventh birthday. I wrapped the gifts the night before, bought the cake and a few balloons the day of, and spent half the evening with Tyler at his soccer game. Despite my lack of thought and effort, my daughter still had a bright smile on her face, and was heard to exclaim, "This is the best birthday ever!" (Yes, eleven year old girls are known for exaggeration, but I think she was genuinely pleased!) And so it only took me a decade to learn that it's not all the details that matter, but the thought that counts. Now if I can only break my habit when my son turns seven next year...:)
