I'm a little late getting this post together because it's my son's 2nd birthday today and we've only just said goodbye to our guests.Nowadays it seems a child's party isn't a party unless there's a jumping castle or a magician or someone turns your back yard into a fairy grotto. I hear that it's a jungle out there when it comes to working out what Suzie can have that will be better/different from/as good as her peers. We haven't reached that stage yet in our family as my two are very young and luckily supremely indifferent to what other kids do.
So it got me thinking about the good old days, when the most exciting bit of the party was when the lights went out and the birthday cake came in, or when you won pass the parcel. Musical chairs wasn't considered too lame for words in those days, and a party where a swimming pool was involved was a rare treat.
Oh, yeah, and the food, of course--chocolate crackles, cheerios (small frankfurts, not cereal) lollies, cheezels, coloured popcorn and my mother's specialty--Mars Bar slice. Pin the tail on the donkey, drop the hanky, egg and spoon races, sack races, statues, what's the time, Mr.WOLF?. Ah, those were the days.What's your best/worst memory of a childhood party? Any traditions you'd like to share? One lucky commenter will win some oz chocolate!
67 comments:
Happy birthday to your little one! (who's now 2!)
I was just talking about the proliferation and fancification (I'm sure that's not a real word!) of children's birthday parties with another mom friend recently--both of us remembered attending very few birthday parties as children, and so the few that we did go to were incredibly special, even if they were just musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey, and cake. My very favorite memory was one of the first school friend parties I remember being invited to--it was just a handful of girls, we played some games, ate some cake, and we got little coin purses with a teeny stuffed animal inside as a favor. I might still have that stuffed owl somewhere... :)
We're guilty ourselves of being a bit party-happy with our kids, and we're trying to trim back a bit. We're trying to go with family cake one year and a small group of friends at an activity of their choice the next. We'll see how that goes over ;)
Happy birthday to your son! And Fedora, you just beat me :P. Congratulations on getting the GR!
Hm... best childhood memory? Well actually there are a LOT of them. I had a pretty good childhood and was a very happy baby/little kid. (I think it wasn't until middle school where it all went downhill :P)
One of my "worst" childhood memories? Well my sister and I are 3 yrs and 1 wk apart in age, so we always had a combined birthday. Generally on hers - it's first. So we had a party, and I was sent to go collect kids to cut cake or do something - and they looked at me and said "We don't have to listen to you - it's not your birthday." Then they shot spitballs at me. Kids are... oh idiots.
To balance that off... a happy memory? Riding my bike through puddles with neighborhood kids. Apple picking with friends and family. Giant barbq/cookouts - where my sister, a friend and myself (we were... 7-10?) ate an entire slab of ribs. We regretted it later but they were sooo good during. :D I'd definitely go back and do it all over again.
Well done flchen
Happy birthday to your son Christine his birthday is close to his Mums.
When my kids were little they all had birthday parties I did all the cooking and preparing made fancy birthday cakes castles monsters mickey mouse donald duck you name it I tried to make it. They didn't always look exactly like they did in the books but they were ediable and the kids loved them.
I would make chocolate crackles fairy bread little frankfurts party pies and sausage rolls and mars bars slice as well Christine I do love that.
I have noticed though these days as you say there are jumping castles and everyones has to be better than the last one they went to.
I have made my grandkids cakes for their parties and still they don't always look like the book but the kids love them and that is what counts.
I think playing the normal kids games and having fun is what it is all about not trying to outdo each others parties keep them fun.
Have Fun
Helen
Oh--happy birthday to your baby! :) (sniff) My girls are now 15, 13, and 9 and their birthdays shock me--I don't know where all the years went to.
One of the most fun birthdays was when the oldest turned 7--my nephew was getting married on the same day, so they made a birthday cake for her to eat at the wedding--it was a barbie cake, the one's where there's an actual Barbie doll in a cake, and the cake is the doll's round skirt. It was decorated as a bride. You would have thought she'd died and gone to heaven.
What is Mars Bar slice? It sounds delicious.
Oh, and Christine, if you haven't seen it, you should drop by this blog: http://aplacefororiginals.blogspot.com/
They reviewed a Dangerous Duke and said all sorts of lovely things.:)
Happy Birthday to your little guy! My children are teenagers now and they were invited to some parties where the parents spent quite a bit of money and if you have a daughter the Sweet 16 parties could become too much. When I was a kid you just went to each others house for parties, played games and ate cake and we all had a great time.
Fedora????? AGAIN??????? I think you must just be his home away from home when he gets tired of the rest of us. Hmm. I wonder if the GR has a birthday?
Christine, Happy Happy Birthday to your little one! Enjoy these years, they go by all too quickly.
I don't have many childhood memories of my own birthday parties as I didn't have many. My birthday is four days after Christmas - not exactly the best time for a party. By the end of December everyone is partied out OR waiting for the New Year's party! The worst part was that my birthday present was often combined with a Christmas gift. Bummer!
However, once I met my late DH I always got a completely separate gift for my birthday. He always made a big deal of my birthday.
The funniest birthday party I remember was my baby brother's second birthday. His birthday is in May so we always had a big party. This particular year my Mom made this amazing cake. It was beautiful and we were all drooling to eat it. After my brother blew out the candles one of the other kids fell over something, I think. My Mom set the cake down on the steps next to my brother and went to help the kid. When she turned around Brian had both of his bare feet in the cake!!!! When everyone yelled, Brian looked up, picked up his foot and proceeded to lick the icing off his foot! No cake for us that day!
One of the best parties I ever threw was for my Great Dane, Glory. I made a double decker meatloaf cake in the shape of a giant dog bone. I used thickened white gravy as the icing and decorated it with little dog biscuits shaped like mailmen, hydrants, dog houses, and bones. Several of my friends and their dogs came over and they played out in the yard then sat at the table wearing party hats and ate meatloaf cake.
Today's parents tend to go overboard with their kids' parties. I work in a bakery so I know. You would not believe some of the cakes we have had to make for children's first birthday parties! And man, these parents can be a pain to work with if you can't do EXACTLY what they want.
Happy Birthday to your little guy! One of my best birthday memories is actually the birthday of the little girl for whom I was the nanny. It was her 2nd birthday, as well, and her mom got about 20 helium balloons the evening before, with ribbons all trailing down from the ceiling - and when she brought the birthday girl down for breakfast it was so magical! And it was just balloons. Sometimes simple things are still the best.
Happy birthday to your wee one, Christine!
Ah, yes, birthday parties seem to have gotten so out of hand these days. It's not unusual for a family to rent one of those bounce-house inflatable gizmos for a two-year-old. What are they thinking!!?? Those things cost about $500 to rent. When they start that BIG, I wonder what the parents will do for a sixteenth birthday, for example.
We were always frugal by necessity because we had seven kids. We chose "special" birthdays for their parties: five years old because they're going to school for the first time; eight because it's a baptismal date; twelve because they're on the cusp of teenhood (ha!); and sixteen, just because it's a seminal age (no car, however!).
I have a birthday party to go to today, in fact -- the last of the four nine-year-old grands (whew!). It's at Up-Chucky-Cheese (as the teens say), but I must admit to loving Chucky Cheese. The kids get to run wild, the adults get to chatter, and I do love pizza!
Happy birthday to your son!
I never had birthday parties with lots of other kids. First of all, not many kids of my age lived nearby, and when I went to school... Who would want to invite bunch bullies to their birthday parties, anyway? Most of the time it was just me and my friend and sometimes some of my relatives who came to celebrate my birthday.
Hi, Christine! Happy birthday to your brand new two-year-old! My little one is about to hit that milestone in November & I'm looking forward to throwing her a little party now that she'll be old enough to actually participate.
But I refuse to rent a bouncy house, buy a cake from a store or otherwise be elaborate. When my oldest turned 5 at the beginning of the summer, we let her invite 5 friends (# of years old = # of guests allowed). We played pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs, had a scavenger hunt & whacked the stuffing out of a pinata. It was total old school fun, & we all had a great time.
I hope it always stays this simple, but if it doesn't, nobody tell me. I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. :-)
I only had one true, honest to goodness party -- the small group of my friends and me went to Sizzler for my birthday, Junior year perhaps. . . it was the four of us, all alone in their party room. . . I forget what the heck they got me, but I just remember how perfect it all seemed. And the staff heard it was for a birthday, so I got this little teeny tiny cake of some kind with a paper Happy Birthday sign on it. . . oh, and the part that annoyed me was since my birthday is on Dec 22, pretty close to Christmas, we had it a month before. Sigh. Well, at least they remembered to come, people tend to forget my birthday's coming when you do have Christmas around. LOL But it was quite a fun day.
Now, it just is us here, but our tradition which I can never give up is we get a Carvel ice cream cake. Love it. And don't much care that it's December and cold and we're eating ice cream. ;)
Lois
Oh, we must be careful talking about birthday experiences around the GR.
His first birthday party he was the EGG on the spoon during the race!
I only had 2 birthday parties when I was growing up. Age 6 and age 13.
The six year celebration I had a party dress and an honest to goodness, authentic cardboard/glitter tiara. We played pin the tail on the donkey and had cake and those "special" neopolitan ice cream squares. Pre-made which for 19 {mumble} was pretty exotic.
Several weeks ago I attended a friend's 4 year old birthday party. It was a family affair but with a total of 7 cousins under the age of 7 exciting in its own right.
That little girl got so much PINK stuff cumalating in an elaborate Barbie bike complete with a plastic Barbie bike on the handle bars so the doll could ride too...A special Barbie pouch to carry Barbie "stuff" in and fancy decorations on the wheels.
Growing up my bike had clothespins and playing cards on the spoke :-0
Happy Birthday to your little little one, Christine
Oh Dear, fichen - I was reading your post in a hurry and though you said the fornication of birthday parties!!! I thought you must have attended a lot different parties than I had *g*. Sorry for the misread.
I remember celebrating my son's birthday at my house and having a zillion first graders over. I decided I'd plan a game that would be fun and take up a bit of time. I selected a little prize for each child and attached a different color piece of yarn to it. Then I ran the yarn around the house and hid the prize. Each child was to follow their colored string to find the prize. Sounds neat right?
I hadn't counted on my son energetically uncovering the prizes and presenting them to the guests mere seconds after their arrival. Ended up with a house of kids, not enough activities planned for the remaining time, and a house full of twisted, dangling yarn.
I needed a party after that!
Fedora, do you stay up all night waiting to nab the chookie? Or perhaps, you treat him so well that he hides and waits for you to come on board and then jumps in your arms.
Madam, wish your dear li'l one a very happy two! And thanks for the trip down memory lane about the games we used to play: Pass the parcel, Musical chairs, Chinese whisper, Pin the tail on the donkey, Drop the hanky, Egg/Marble and Spoon races, Sack races, Statues... Fun house parties.
I have a story about the egg and spoon race. I never won this game because I'm such a klutz. Smash went my eggs. One time I decided to be smart. I took a boiled egg and a small piece of gum with me in my pocket. Ahahahahha. I WON! I beamed with pride at my cleverness. Ahem.
A memorable party for my kid was the year we found a guy willing to schlep two tiny ponies to our backyard. The kids had a rip-roaring time jouncing on the ponies backs and feeding them carrots.
Talking about bouncing castles. Our neighbor has two boys. Imagine their embarrassment at having a pink bouncy castle parked in their driveway one August day. Their youngest boy's fav color is pink. :)
LMAO @ Donna!
Joanie, I had those clothespins and playing cards on my bicycle spokes too and I loved them! :)
Christine, Happy Birthday to your little one! Hope everyone had fun at the party.
I remember lots of fun birthday parties at our house but I'm sure they didn't cost much. My mom made the cakes, we had scavenger hunts and played simple, but fun, games. Starting about age 9 I celebrated my birthday by inviting around 8 friends over for a pajama party. Good memories. The one party that was a little more costly was my Sweet 16. Three of my girlfriends and I all turned 16 within a 4 week span so our moms combined efforts and threw us a party at the American Legion Hall. My aunt made Barbie cakes, the moms made finger food, they hired a local band and about 100 friends from school came. It was a blast but, split four ways, probably not all that expensive for each family. Certainly not anywhere near the obscenely expensive parties that some parents throw today.
I have no clue what half of the foods that have been mentioned are but they sure sound yummy!
YES, Louisa and Lois!
We Christmas babies get the SHAFT!! I'm sure I've related how *I* handle the bday/Xmas present combined. (Whomever pulls that on me gets told, "This is YOUR bday/Xmas present combined." and when they sputter, "But my bday is in July!" I shrug and say, "Oh well!") Works like a charm. :-)
My WORST birthday party story happened more than once to me while growing up and that is NOBODY came to my party because it was too close to Christmas. :-( My best birthday in recent memory was a couple of years ago on board a cruise ship. The wait staff presented me with a little chocolate cake (because our waiter knew I loved chocolate) and all this great looking men with delicious accents stood around me and sang happy birthday. I could definitely get used to that kind of treatment!
HAPPY HAPPY 2nd birthday to your lil guy, Christine! I remember that you couldn't attend the RWA conference in Atlanta (where you WON the GH for Scandal's Daughter!) because the doctor wouldn't allow you to fly in your last trimester. My how time flies!
AC
P.S. Congrats on the GR AGAIN Fedora! Hope he is ready for your kids and their light sabers.
My mother was very indulgent with me went it came to celebrating birthday parties. I must have been demanding and spoiled but the parties were memorable and filled with yummmy treats, great gifts and fun. Sometimes I had a party at home and then since it was summer another one when we visited relatives in holiday. Now I am an adult and can't understand doing so much.
Since my mother was very creative and a wonderful baker and cook she always made unique birthday parties for me. A cake that would reflect my interest at that time, and all my friends would enjoy the entertainment, either a storyteller or a singer.
I have a end of Nov. birthday so I was lucky to see a cake (a lot of times the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie sufficed). The big thing at our house was my sister got one small birthday party because her birthday was in summer and I got none. (poor me lol). Anyway I always made sure my two girls got at least one big party and then they had lots of smaller ones and sleepovers.
Happy Birthday to your son!
Congrats on the GR, Fedora.
Happy 2nd birthday to your son. I remember our birthday parties consisting of only cake, balloons and candy. We didn't even have a clown or magician to entertain us. We sat around and played with cheap party favors and everyone had a great time. My friend's neighbor just threw a birthday party for their four year old at Sesame Place. It cost them over $2000. I can't imagine spending that much on a kid's birthday party.
Congrats to the birthday boy, Christine! Its funny, around here near DC, you'd think it was keep up with the Joneses on the birthday parties. Yikes! One mom in my son's class took the entire class to Build-a-Bear and everyone got a bear, then cake and icecream. OMGosh, I don't even want to THINK about what that cost.
I can't stand all the fuss over it when the kids don't care. We got a water slide at Costco (wholesale warehouse club for those who aren't familiar with it) So far it's been through 2 summers with nearly constant weekend use, 2 birthdays, and we just put it up for the fall. I do burgers, chips, cake and ice cream in the back yard. We've also done Chuck-e-cheese's, a local minor league baseball outing (cheap tickets, hot dogs, popcorn, cake and a bball game!), and a couple of other things, but mostly, it's low key. Last year, my eldest and his friend went to an Orioles game and we had cake and ice cream w/ the other kid and his family. Ta-da! :>
Boys are easy...grins.
(BTW my nearly-4-year-old despairs that he can't have the water slide in February!)
JT I had playing cards an clothespins too. They make a wonderful noise when you ride!
Hey, Fedora, the prodigal has come home, I see!
Gillian, wasn't that a great review of TDD? And as someone over there said, she raved so fantastically about the story without giving away any spoilers!
Christine, happy birthday to Boy 2! Actually perhaps it's boy 2-2, really. Does that mean he's going to grow up to be a ballet dancer?
Loved the post. I grew up in a small farming community so parties were fairly old-fashioned. You know, all the standard games and nothing terrifically fancy. Except the food! All the mothers were the old-fashioned sort of farmers' wives who still cooked all the old-fashioned sort of food. The catering was always magnificent!
My Birthday is in early January. My 9th birthday fell on a Saturday and there was a big party planned. The night before, it started to snow and snow and snow. It even snowed most of the next day. So the only people to come to my party were my best friend who lived nearby and her little brother.
And for my sixteenth birthday I got a scarf. Nothing else, just a scarf. No cards, no cake.
Those were my worst birthdays.
Limecello, I know friends who make it a point to celebrate their kids birthdays separately even though they're in the same month. On the other hand, as a parent, I can definitely see wanting to throw fewer parties ;) Some kids are just wretched though!
Louisa and AC, my birthday is days before Christmas, and I HATED the whole combined birthday/Christmas present thing. It just seemed so unbelievably unfair! (And boy, I was all about the fairness! ;)) I've never done the same to a perpetrator, but I LOVE the idea! And yes, the timing of birthdays factored into our family planning ;)
Thanks everyone--the GR seems to be doing famously. He's cleverly found my chocolate stash and has made himself comfy with a couple books from the towering TBR. He doesn't seem inclined to tag along with the kids though we're slated to go to a party this afternoon--maybe the thought of bouncing around with a bunch of 5-year-old princesses at the kids' gym does not appeal?
Hi Fedora! You must certainly take the golden egg for getting the Golden Rooster most often!
I like that word--fancification. I'm sure I'll end up doing things like that too, but I'm going to try to resist. I suppose that's one good thing about teenage parties--it's not too hard to work out what will amuse them! I think an activity is good, like going to a theme park or something like that. We often do that for my elder son, who gets a bit overwhelmed at parties.
Oh, and I must apologize for not replying sooner--my dear husband had kindly activiated my transaction protector, which encrypted my keystrokes--only, it also made the type come out really weirdly any time I typed on the internet. All fixed now!
Limecello, you poor thing having to share a birthday. Those little snots throwing spitballs at you!!
I love your good memories. A lot of mine centre around barbecues. I think there's something really fun about outdoor cooking and everyone helping to get a meal prepared. We kids used to always pick up the sticks for the fire and help ferry all the meat and sausages and onions down from the house. The scent of cut grass and smoke and meaty scents filling the air. Ahh. Those were the days. I love ribs too!
Hi Helen, how could I forget fairy bread?? That was my absolute favourite. Oh, and the shape cakes are wonderful, aren't they? I remember my mother made this beautiful cinderlla cake with a barbie doll in the middle and pink frosting and all those little silver balls in her gown. That was magic!
Hi Gillian! Thanks so much for letting me know about the blog. What a lovely review! And a really nice blog. I've bookmarked it.
Isn't that the loveliest gesture to have a cake made for your daughter's birthday? It sounds divine!
Happy Birthday to your little one, Christine!
I both loved and hated birthday parties. We didn't start having parties with lots of kids until my kids hit elementary school, (mostly because I don't like other people's toddlers). If you know your kids' friends real well, then you know which ones will behave and which ones you have to keep a tight leash on. But mostly the kids were fun and I limited the party to two hours, any longer and I felt I was being a babysitter for the parents.
I tried to always send well behaved kids to others' parties. My kids had the fear of death ingrained in them. "If you misbehave, I'll know it and you will wish you'd never done what you're thinking of doing!" was often my parting words at the curb. (Never once got the your kid was a bit of a terror complaint from the other parents.)
Yes, I was the mean mother of the neighborhood.
We have a history of family parties
for all special occasions. We were
also a large family, so we always
gathered at the grandparent's home.
(They had more space) It was all the sibs(9), all the cousins( a jillion), lots of pinatas, lots of food, and lots of cakes! Oh, and also lots of fun! We will be having a family reunion at the beginning of November, where we
will celebrate at least two
birthdays and a baby shower! Did
I mention that there will be lots
of cakes ??
Pat Cochran
Hi Ladies,
I just nominated Romance Bandits for something on my blog at Yankee Romance Reviewers.
huggs,
Terra
Thanks, Maureen! I only have two boys, but shudder at the thought of a sweet sixteenth! Thank you for that silver lining:)
Louisa, a Christmas baby, you poor thing! I always thought it would be terrible to have to wait a whole year for another special day. I LOVE the dog party. Did you take photos? THat would have been a hoot to see them all sitting at a table with party hats. Too cool!
Hi Julia, great to see you here! I love the sound of balloons. What a great idea.
Hi Jo, thanks for the b'day wishes! Actually, I'm astonished you had as many birthday parties as you did, with seven children.
Well done!
Chucky cheese sounds like a good idea. We have McDonalds parties a lot here, which is the same principal and they have a special room with games, etc.
Hi Minna, pity about the bullies. I think small family parties are sometimes the nicest though, aren't they?
Susan, what a great idea to have the number of guests equal number of years. I'll have to remember that. Sounds like you had a whale of a time. I think it's good for kids to learn they shouldn't be demanding things just because little Johnny has it. Have fun with the two year old party!
Hey Lois, you should move to Australia--then you'd be eating ice cream cake in the summer. Although you'd have to get it imported because I don't think we have that brand here:)
Another Christmas baby. I really sympathise, and I'd be tempted to pick another day to celebrate on, when everyone was less flustered and busy.
Aw, thanks Joanie! Snorked about the rooster and the egg!
What a lovely day with a pink tiara. That would have been my idea of bliss, too.
And yes, what is it with all the pink? I thought girls would have changed but it doesn't seem so. nature, not nurture, I think!
Snork, Donna! Are you thinking about your next book, by any chance?
Had to laugh about the yarn. That sounds exactly like something that would happen to me.
Oh, Keira, you had me in stitches about your egg and gum! I think you deserved the prize for having the smarts and the chutzpah to carry it off! Snork about the pink castle.
PJ your sweet sixteen sounds fabbo! I remember some great pyjama parties, too. One memorable one where we bought donuts and cherry pie and sat up watching a whole season of Twin Peaks.
Wrrrappped in Plastic!
I had lovely parties each year which my mother prepared. One year she made an unusual cake which consisted of a variety of donuts arranged on a huge platter in the shape of a mountain. Everyone was in awe of this creativity and pics were taken of this beautiful creation. That is the one that stands out the most. Aside from the cake all of her treats were unique and amazing.
Oh, and LOL, Donna! Not THAT kind of party! ;)
Christine, Please don't despair! I have a 10 year old and a 14 year old and granted they are boys BUT the 14 year old's party this year featured the chocolate game, mummies (wrapping each other up in toilet paper) and chubby bunnies...how many marshmallows can you shove in your mouth and still say the words 'chubby bunnies'
My kids have always had 'old fashioned' parties and we're yet to have a disappointed child. Why? Cos at our parties kids are allowed to be kids:-)
I remember going to a 10 year old party (I was ten also) and they had donuts hanging on strings from the ceiling and you had to eat them using only your mouth (no hands) They swung back and forth and we were giggling and laughing and thought that was the wildest party we had ever been.
Hey, AC, you poor little Christmas baby you--tell us when the next one comes around and we'll arranged a huge chocolate mudcake and a cabana boy chorus!
Jenna, you're so right--it is rather daunting to face preparations for a child's birthday party, isn't it?
Diane, what a lucky girl!
Thanks, Catslady. I feel SO sorry for all you holiday babies. My favourite parties were sleepovers. But I wanted to stay up all night, giggling, and we were always made to go to sleep.
OMG, $2,000 on a kid's party? The mind boggles at what they'll expect in later years.
Jeanne, something like a waterslide or a pool will keep the kids entertained for the whole time. I think that's money well spent. Yes, thank heaven, boys are easy! My dh says give our 5 yo a packet of potato crisps and he's happy.
Hi Fo, yes, those were the days. We never had anything fancy and it always amazes me to look back and remember how everyone still dressed up just to sit on the ground and play pass the parcel. We loved having our party frocks on:)
Oh, Arkiern, you poor honey! Man, I'm never complaining about a birthday again.
Hee, Fedora, I think my sympathies are with the GR on that one!
Suz, even if you were the meanest mom (which I doubt) I'm sure you raised fantastic kids!
Pat, I come from a small family so I love the idea of these huge gatherings. Thanks for sharing and have fun at your reunion!
Hey, Terra, thanks so much for the nomination. We're extremely chuffed:)
Ooh, Annie, the donut cake sounds amazing! Lucky you!!
Hi Fiona, lovely to see you here! And aren't you lovely to reassure me on the birthday dilemma. I'm going to take your advice to heart and keep it simple. Thanks for commenting!
LOL, Jill! It's the simple things that work best, isn't it?
I don't have good memories linked to b'day parties. I always think of kids crying and gifts that I did not want!
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