Birthday Parties. UGH.

My parents were the best at throwing birthday parties. I always had games to play and awesome food to eat. Girls I grew up with still remember playing “Kick the Can” at night and “the marble game” at my parties. Each party was unique and memorable. Of course, I wanted nothing less for my own children.

What I never realized, what most kids never realize, is the amount of work parents put in to a kid’s birthday party. It wasn’t until I threw Talan his first non-family party that it dawned on me how much work they are and how bad they suck for adults.

Last year Talan turned 6 and was in Kindergarten. Seeing as how he had only been in school for a few weeks when his birthday arrive (October 16), we decided the best course of action was to invite all the boys in his class. This way, no one felt left out and Talan was saved the trouble of actually having to remember everyone’s names that he wanted to invite. None of this caused problems, in fact none of the actual planning of the party was a headache. We planned on ordering pizza for lunch, serving Gatorade and having cupcakes for dessert. We bought Talan a piñata and filled it with the usual goods. Simple, right? You would think so…

First off, why is it so difficult to RSVP to a children’s party? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised given the amount of people who didn’t RSVP to my wedding but still, it’s common courtesy. I failed to RSVP to a birthday party Talan was invited to…only because I found the invitation hidden in his backpack one month after the actual party. I did make a point of apologizing to the parents, however, and explaining why there was never a response. Out of the dozen or so kids invited to Talan’s party, only five RSVP’d and they were the five that were coming. Even those five didn’t RSVP by the requested date but rather kept me guessing until the last moment. On the actual invitation I had not only included my cell phone number but my email, giving the parents an out to just text or email me to avoid human interaction. I thought I had made it easy but apparently not easy enough.

The party itself went off okay. No one fought with anyone; no one spilled anything that left a permanent stain; no one cried or got hurt. Overall, a success. Thankfully, most of the kids simply played downstairs, tearing apart our toy room and leaving messes everywhere. I was okay with this, they kept themselves entertained and didn’t break anything. I think the stress of trying to keep everyone happy and entertain, as well as safe, was what really got to me. I wanted to ensure that Talan had a good time but also that the other boys had a fun time as well. I also had to referee the toy sharing and had to make sure they were supervised in order to prevent any fights or tears. By the time the last kid left (an hour after the invite said the party would end), I was exhausted but my child was happy. Like I said, an overall success.

Apparently, when I went to plan Talan’s seventh party, I completely forgot about the stress of the whole thing because this year I not only let him invite every boy in his class but three additional friends for football. If everyone comes that will be a total of SEVENTEEN 7-8 year old boys. No one will this one go well. Today was the deadline for RSVP’ing yet I have only heard from four parents. I’m not sure if I should be planning food and drinks enough for 5 kids or 15. Again, I do not understand why it is so hard to let someone know your plans. *insert frustrated grunt here* Also, this year we are having the party at my in-laws, a problematic situation I failed to see coming. My mother-in-law graciously offered to host the party so we could have a bouncy house (something I thought we’d get for free from a friend of a friend but ended up costing us money) but now it’s become a stressful situation---she wants to know all the details when I haven’t figured out all the details and wants to help more than I am willing to let her. Just stressful. I had planned on ordering cupcakes but in order to save money, I am now making them. They are just from a box but it’s still something extra I hadn’t planned on. The party’s theme is Star Wars so I stupidly told Talan I would make light sabers out of pool noodles (an idea I saw on Pinterest). I’m six days out from the party and haven’t started yet as the whole craft seems too daunting.

The cost of the party, the stress of planning along with the stress of the unknown guest list…it’s all too much. Hopefully the actual party will go off without a hitch. Just someone remind me next year how awful this is so we can just take Talan and ONE friend to a movie and Chuck E. Cheese. That sounds much better.