2nd birthday party dilemma/thoughts

alisonada · February 2009

I need some outside ideas and/or perspective...

For Piper's 1st birthday we just did a really small party at our house - it's easy for us to keep it small because we don't live near our families (other than a handful of DH's extended family). Both sets of grandparents came into town, and we invited DH's local family members (4 people total) and our best "couple friends." The only other kid there was a 2 week old baby. This worked out fine because our house is really small - it felt packed with the less than 15 people that were there. We just had snacks & cake and watched her open presents, it was really low-key.

So we're debating over what to do this year. Do we do the same thing? It was fine for last year, and Piper probably won't really know the difference, but it just seems kind of lame and would basically be an exact repeat of her 1st birthday part (same location, guests, activities).

We can't invite more people and still have it at our house, it's just too small (we do have a big yard but mid-April weather is just too unpredictible to plan something outside.) We can't really add any games/activities without at least inviting some kids. I looked into some birthday party packages at places like Chuck E. Cheese but they really seemed geared towards older kids. Other options like a Gymboree party seem really fun but I can't convince DH to spend $200+ on her party (which I kind of agree with - I'd rather go all-out when she's old enough to appreciate it.)

Ideally I would like to invite some of her little toddler friends and maybe a few more people, but I just don't know what to do. I'm probably stressing over this too much since Piper won't really know what's going on or remember her 2nd birthday, right? But I still want to make it a nice time for her and those that attend.

I can't believe I'm actually planning a 2nd birthday party...!

shawnsweetie · February 2009

We did the same thing for Rylee's 2nd b-day. Just family ( so 15-20 people) I am pretty sure I will do the same thing this year too. Honestly, all of her "friends" are her cousins anyway so it isn't like she has any friends to invite anyway

shellbug79 · February 2009

We did a bigger party for Isabelle's 2nd birthday & we really regret it. When it's only family & my bf (who's like a sister) I don't really feel the "need" to entertain everyone but when we invited other friends & more family I felt the need to make sure I talked to everyone & entertain them, it was not fun for me or my husband & we felt in the end we didn't get to spend time with the birthday girl.

Michelle?

mrs.george2be04 · February 2009

I think family and close friends is just fine. Like you said she's only 2, she won't remember it. You'll be planning parties where she'll want to invite 20 of her closest friends soon enough.

alisonada · February 2009

OK, if we do just keep it small with the same few people, would it be totally lame to just do a lunch out somewhere? I just really don't love the thought of doing the exact same thing as last year. If we were out we could just eat lunch and have a cake, and would probably request no gifts (and maybe people would oblige, or at least just bring one small one, if they had to lug it to a restaurant..?) Thoughts?

adamsbabble · February 2009

How late in April is her birthday? If it's later, you could probably get away with a park shelter. We did this for Ava's party last year and it was only $25 to rent. Or what about a community center/clubhouse that the public can rent?

We also do not currently have the space for everyone we will be inviting (which is about 25-35 people) so we will be going the park shelter/clubhouse route the next few years. I do like the idea of a keeping children's parties at home, a park or something like that vs. a place like Chuck E. Cheese b/c I have been to those parties and the kids are just interested in playing, not spending time with guests... which is totally understandable, but I would rather wait on that a few more years, plus like you said they won't even remember these earlier parties. I think it's totally fine to do the same thing as last year. Lunch, cake and presents--very low key. We're even inviting the very same people, lol. The only difference is that we are probably going to do a pool party at a family member's clubhouse rather than the park.

alisonada · February 2009

Her birthday is 4/13, so mid-April, but I remember last year it was pretty chilly out. I thought about some type of clubhouse, but don't know of anywhere nearby. And if we were doing that I'd probably invite more people, no point in renting it if we just had the same few people that came to our house.

I should mention that if we do a restaurant lunch it would only be the local family again which would just include one other kid (a one-year old) so it's not like we'd be trying to dine out with a bunch of toddlers/kids.

adamsbabble · February 2009

I think going out to lunch somewhere would be fine. There are plenty of casual places (i.e. LaRosa's) that have party rooms too.

Zoogy · February 2009

I agree I think a small party with some family and friends is great. We planned to do that too for Mya. We had a bigger party for her 1st with all the aunts, uncles, parents and a few friends. It was a zoo in our house and we spent so much $. This year we planned to do just immediate family and maybe a few friends that have kids around the same age. We probably will just something bigger again for maybe her 5th b-day and invite all her schools friends, etc.

alisonada · February 2009

Ooh, good idea Kessler, I hadn't even thought of that. I really appreciate everyone's input here - I was feeling like kind of a slacker for not wanting to do a huge production for her b-day, but you're making me feel better :-)

mrs.george2be04 · February 2009

Donato's on Beechmont has a nice room for parties. We used to have family parties at Ryan's in Eastgate but I noticed Saturday night that it's closed. :-(

alisonada · February 2009

Thanks for the Donato's recommendation! That's so close to our house and it would be so easy to just buy pizza for everyone. Are you sure that Ryan's is the one that closed (over by Blockbuster?), we just went there for the breakfast buffet a few weeks ago! I know that the Damon's closed and there was a chinese restaurant there too but they closed too.

mrs.george2be04 · February 2009

It looked closed Saturday night. DH and I were going to go to dinner there (LOL). We were both shocked. It looked like the sign had been taken off the building and there was a big for sale sign in front.

alisonada · February 2009

Wow, that's crazy! It's so sad how many places are shutting down (and how quickly it happens!)

cops_wife · February 2009

If it makes you feel any better, my sister throws three of the exact same party for the exact same family every year (one for each nephew). I would not worry a bit about it being the same, birthdays usually are.

little-peanut · February 2009

I'm glad you posted this. I know Griffin's bday is not until October, but I was thinking about what to do for the next one. I am glad to see many responses. We had a big party for his 1st bday and it was a zoo. I think we will always do a big one for our kids 1st birthdays and then do smaller ones with just family and maybe close friends until they reach school age. I can't believe Piper will be 2 soon!

AgathiP04 · February 2009

We did a huge 1st birthday party and a smaller 2nd birthday party. He didn't know the difference. He was very much more aware at his 2nd birthday and almost more overwhelmed by the gifts even though there were less people there. We had both 1st birthday and 2nd birthday at our house. Good luck!

cat81305 · February 2009

We just had a HUGE 1st birthday party and I loved having everyone there but I will only do friends next year. If the family wants to do a little one, that is fine but I am only going to do friends. We have many friends that have kids near DS's age so I think it would be fun to do friends especially since they interact more with kids as they get older. If you want to do just family, I think you have a lot of great suggestions :-) Either way, Piper will have fun and it will be great :-)

hav2run · February 2009

I am really late on this post. Growing up, I always remember having low key birthday parties with close family and friends. I had the best time and some great memories from those parties. I did the same for DS until he was about 8 years old. For his 8th birthday, I allowed him to invite his best friends for a party at Chuck E Cheese. Little beknown to me, he invited 20 kids. ALL showed up for the party...ok, fine, I had no idea he had 20 friends...LOL. They had a great time. It was soooooo hard to keep up after that.

I really think at the young age of two, they really don't know any better and will enjoy no matter what. My advice is to enjoy it while it lasts and keep it low key as long as possible. They grow up so quickly, and soon they will really care who is invited and where the party is. you cannot go wrong with any party for a two year old. Do what you think works best for you and your family and enjoy the low stress nature of it while they are young.

natasha15 · February 2009

Also really late but will say B-day is April 15 so great choice of the yr!!!!On a side note!! I gave my son a big 2nd birthday party and spent too much money!! I think until they turn 4 no need to splurge..We just splurged on his 6th b-day and granted he had a blast but he will rememeber (SP) it and enjoy it..I say keep your funds and have a nice party at home with some family and lil tot friends..

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