ATTN: This is the first in a series of entries. However, you will be able to follow along if you miss entries along the way. This isn't going to be like being totally lost when you watch City Slickers II before you ever watch City Slickers.
In a little less than a month, Ian will turn three. I am DREADING this birthday. The time is just going by way too fast, and I hate to think that he could be starting preschool this year. I've heard parents talk about how they can't wait until their kid is in school so they can have a break, but I am NOT one of those parents. I love a break as much as the next stay-at-home-mom, but I just hate the thought of Ian not being with me because he is growing up and there's nothing I can do about it. Instead I get my breaks in two hour doses every few weeks when we go home for the weekend. They are ALWAYS so refreshing, and sometimes long overdue. But anyway, I love the opportunity to put together a party, and I can't think of a better reason to party than honoring one of my boys! So, the planning is in full swing, and this is going to be my finest creation yet.
I like my parties to be just a little different from most kids' parties. I don't like to go to the party store and buy the "Birthday Beach Bash" party set or the "Fun Fireman Fiesta" party set. Let me be perfectly clear, there is NOTHING wrong with the party sets. They are fantastic and make planning your parties so simple. I avoid these sets because I am a stay-at-home-mom so I have MUCH more time to get things together that a mom who is away from home nine hours a day. Yet another reason why I love the fact that we are a traditional family.
Some of you are probably thinking, "Ugh. Is she out of her mind? Why torture yourself when you can just go to the party store and be done with it?" Well, you must not realize how simple putting together a custom party can be. Also, I am a glutton for punishment. Follow me through the process of planning Ian's third birthday party, and I guarantee you will never looking at party planning the same way ever again!
STEP 1: Choose the party's theme
The first step is to decide upon a theme. Cole and I obviously wanted to make Ian's own personal interests guide our theme decision. I suggest making a Top Ten list so you can look at your choices while making your decision. Seeing the idea on paper can help you to decide which ideas will be a smash and which ideas may be hard to execute. You may find penning this list to be somewhat difficult. How can a young child have a Top Ten Interests list? The most important thing is to be honest when writing the list. Only write down your child's true interests, not what you wish your child was interested in. It might be helpful to use the following list of Ian's Top Ten Interests to serve as a guide for your own list.
1. Fighting with Eli
2. Bossing around Eli
3. Fighting with Eli
4. Screaming contests with Eli
5. Bossing around Eli
6. General mischief (planning and execution)
7. Anything with wheels
8. Bossing around Eli
9. Giving me a "haircut"
10. Stealing toys from Eli
Once your list is complete, I suggest looking for a dominant trend within the list. Usually a quick once over will allow you to easily see the trend. Let's practice by using Ian's list. Can you see a trend in Ian's list? That's right! Tormenting Eli. I told you this was easy! Tormenting Eli is Ian's favorite activity, and it takes up much of his day. (Don't feel sorry for Eli, he gets his revenge on Ian on an hourly basis.)
Once you have identified the dominant trend in your list, it is time to make a rough plan of how the party will be executed to decide if this is an idea worth pursuing. You will need to consider invitations, refreshments, games/entertainment, the cake, and party favors. These are the details that will really make or break the party atmosphere. To help you along the way to planning the details of your own party, let's revisit the theme of Ian's party and start brain storming. Write down any ideas that come to mind. You'll be surprised at just how creative you are. Just like The Imagination Movers say, "There are no bad ideas when you're braaaaaaaainstormin'."
INVITATIONS
Personally, I prefer to make the invitations for the boys' parties. This is definitely not something every mom wants to try. It can be intimidating, but don't get all worked up about that right now. You are simply brainstorming; nothing is set in stone. The invitation is going to be the guests' first look at the party. You want to clearly convey the theme of the party. The appearance of the invitation is going to be what gets your guests fired up and ready to party their hienies off. For a "tormenting Eli" themed party the invitation could look like a gigantic, screaming mouth that is wide open. Inside it could say....
"You ARE coming to my party on Sunday. Yes you are! Yes you are! You are too! It IS going to be at the park, and you better not be late! Mooooooooooooom!!!!!!!!!!!"
Now everyone realizes this party is going to be all about confrontation and they get pumped up to get in the middle of all the "brotherly love" that fills our house on a daily basis.
REFRESHMENTS
In order to give the party an authentic feel, the refreshments will need to be the normal "comfort foods" that we use in order to make boo-boos feel better. Popsicles are always a crowd pleaser. In fact, when Ian got his stitches a couple of months ago, the hospital staff gave him AND Eli popsicles. To drink, a nice bottle of salt water could be served to emulate the tears that flow like wine at our house. Black licorice could also be served as a way to represent the punishment that accompanies tormenting. I mean, who actually likes black licorice? It is disgusting.
GAMES & ENTERTAINMENT
This is the category where you really get to be creative. For Ian's party we could do something simple for the younger kids like Stick the Band-Aid on the Owie, a variation of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. The kids who are just a little older could have fun designing splits made from house hold items. Perhaps they could use a spatula and a ladle and secure them to an "injured" arm with a belt in order to immobilize it. Just let the creativity flow! The older guests could have a blast naming all of the signs of a concussion in 30 seconds or less. Kids of all ages could participate in a round robin "Keep Your Nose in that Corner Until I Say So!" tournament. This party is just overflowing with fun!
CAKE
Since tormenting Eli frequently ends in someone bleeding, the cake should obviously be red velvet. The icing could be a mix of purple, green, and yellow to resemble a bruise. The shape of the cake be a head or an arm, the most common points of attack. The individual cake served to the birthday boy could be in the shape of a time-out chair. I personally like the big cake and individual cake to coordinate. Some people just prefer to let the birthday boy have the first slice of the big cake. The choice is yours. Go with whatever your find to be more appropriate.
PARTY FAVORS
The party favors are such an important part of the party. What you send home with your guests will be their last impression of your party, and it is going to be a constant reminder to your guests that your party was amazing! For this particular party, the treat bag, which should actually be something useful like an arm sling, could hold a box of Band-Aids, an ice pack, and a time-out mat (you want to cover all aspects of the tormenting).
Now that you have finished brainstorming it's time to evaluate whether or not the idea is something that will be executed easily. Are your guests going to get it? Are they going to enjoy themselves? Let's look back at the results of our brainstorm for Ian's party. When closely examining the rough and dirty details of Ian's party, you can probably see that there is a slight chance that the essence of the party might get lost in translation. Some guests might feel as though the party is in poor taste. Some guests might just feel a little uncomfortable. Neither of these scenarios is acceptable!!! The ultimate hostess makes sure that every single person at the party is having so much fun that they are praying that time slows down so the party can last forever. In all honesty, some guests may wish for time to speed up at the "Tormenting Eli" party, so, unfortunately, Ian's most cherished pastime is not going to be the theme of the party this year.
You might also find that your dominant theme will lead to a party that will be difficult to execute. That's okay. That is why you wrote a Top Ten list and not a Top One list. Simply refer back to your list to find the second best idea. Since tormenting Eli is no longer an option, there are only two party theme ideas left on Ian's list: anything with wheels or giving me a "haircut". Well, call me a mean old mom, but I am NOT letting the "haircut" become the theme as Ian's "haircuts" are incredibly painful twisting and pulling regimens that are responsible for many a headache and bald patch. No thanks.
That leaves "anything with wheels" as the best choice. Now we need to narrow down "anything" to something more specific. Currently, Ian's favorite toys are his monster trucks. If there is anything in the house that gets played with on a daily basis it is most definitely the monster trucks. The monster trucks, especially Monster Mutt Dalmation, are CONSTANTLY a point of conflict between Ian and Eli. There is always a fight over who gets Monster Mutt, which is technically Eli's. Oh, my gosh! Do you realize what just happened? I just figured out a way to incorporate TWO of Ian's favorite activities into ONE party! Since Ian loves playing with monster trucks and tormenting Eli, which always occurs during monster truck play time, I have now covered his favorite activities in a party that won't leave guests completing freaked out. Holy cow, this party is going to be SO incredible!
By now you should also be at a point where a perfect theme has been identified. Allow me to be the first to congratulate you on making your decision. Over the next four weeks I will be documenting the planning and execution of Ian's birthday party to serve as a guide for planning your own party. I promise you this, the planning only gets more thrilling from here because the next step is the invitations. Get your crafting hats on, this is about to get good!
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