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First Birthday Party...anyone Anti?

wintersongwintersong member
in Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
So, I am so not feeling a first birthday party for ds. It feels more stressful for him than enjiyable. I'm not really into baby eating cake either. So, pretty much dh and I are having a party for his family, lol.

Any ideas on how to make the party special for my lo instead of just the adults in his life? It will be a little stressful for him because off all the unfamiliar people who will be there. The only ideas I have are making cake myself, so at least I know what is in it, with fun little marshmallows on top instead of tons of icing. He will love picking them off, and has never had them before. Any other ideas?

Conversely, I am ridiculously excited about the private party dh and I are having. We are taking him to Chick filA and getting him his very first kids meal with his own chicken tenders and yogurt. Lol, I think I'm a weirdo.
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Re: First Birthday Party...anyone Anti?

  • banfrogbanfrog member
    I'm not anti but I have become jaded. We just do a small party at home, I make a cake or cupcakes, and we plan a special family event. I've killed myself preparing birthday parties in the past that no one shows up for.
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  • see8esee8e member
    We were anti too (DD turned one on 1/11), but more from a budgetary/excess point of view. We simply had her "open" presents with us (and cards sent in the mail, which she LOVES), and let her have a mini cupcake with a candle--she was mesmerized!
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  • *LrCg**LrCg* member
    We are anti only because with our 2nd she never liked being the center of attention and just cried and was scared when everyone was singing to her and it was such an unfun birthday for her that I never did a big birthday party again (I'm a mom of 4).  We do special trips for our kids where the whole immediate family takes the day off/out of school and does something fun.  We do that child's favorite meal and of course I bake a big themed cake even though it's just us.  But we love it and for us it works.  If people want to stop over for cake and ice cream they can but it's not a production. 
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  • BigboobsmcgeeBigboobsmcgee member

    Soooo you don't like babies eating cake but you'll take him to Chick fil A?! ;) I love both of those things so I'm not judging, just teasing you.

    I'm not anti-birthday party at all, I'm quite the opposite actually but that doesn't mean anything has to be over the top crazy. You know your kid best but we had a decent sized first birthday for my daughter and she LOVED all the attention and people. It wasn't stressful for her one bit.

    Your idea sounds good though. Small get together at home, make your own cake, blow up a few balloons (my kids go ape shit for balloons) then go do something special like Chick fil A just the 3 of you. If you want low stress then don't over think this. Your LO won't remember any of it anyways!   

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  • harmonicbabe26harmonicbabe26 member
    edited January 2016
    I'm not anti in general and for our first DD we had a huge bash with about 15 couples plus their kids (at that time most people had 1 kid, only a few had 2). It was fun but INTENSE. This time I just was not feeling a huge production and I almost just did the us only thing. But in the end we invited her Godfather with fam (neither set of grandparents or Godmother live close by so having them was not an option). So it was us four and the four of the Godfather's fam. Their kids are basically the same age as ours, and he is my hubb's best friend so it was basically like a big playdate, except with pizza and cake. It was great. Highly recommend. The baby doesn't care, so if you're not feeling it, just do what will feel comfortable. 
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  • whataboutsciencewhataboutscience member
    I didn't think DD would like all the people at hers and she did awesome and seemed to love it actually. We just had close family which was still about 25 people and that feels like a ton to me. We did not do a theme, just pink and balloons, pizza, salad, and cake.
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  • wintersongwintersong member
    Update:
    Party disaster!
    Oh it was cute, but ds cried about 2/3s of it. (He hates people he doesn't know staring at him.) He didn't smash his cake, lol, just picked a few pieces off with his thumb and forefinger. 
    Oh well, we gave everyone a memorable party, anyway, and got a ton of new books for ds. :)
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  • BigboobsmcgeeBigboobsmcgee member
    longliveregina said:
    Update:
    Party disaster!
    Oh it was cute, but ds cried about 2/3s of it. (He hates people he doesn't know staring at him.) He didn't smash his cake, lol, just picked a few pieces off with his thumb and forefinger. 
    Oh well, we gave everyone a memorable party, anyway, and got a ton of new books for ds. :)

    Bummer :( My first kid was pretty shy at that age and cried when people looked at him. It sucks!
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  • BurdyGurlBurdyGurl member
    I think it very much depends on the kid. From what I'm reading here it seems those who were anti were so based a lot on their child's temperament.  My daughter turned 1 in December & we did dinner with her grandparents then later in January a small party with mainly her cousins. Funnily she played mostly by herself bc they were all a little older then her. But it worked. She was happy the whole time.  I think it's great that so many of you considered your child's feelings over throwing a huge bash to impress family/friends. 
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