Your child is turning one, 5 tips for if you're throwing a party!

I've only been a mother for a year

so I'm a novice when it comes to children's birthdays. I recently had my first real child's birthday party as a mother at someone else's place, and I found it overwhelming. Normally, I'm the type of person who loves a party. I really enjoy good food and even more so wine. These two best friends are fortunately always present at birthdays. I found my first birthday as a mother intense. Normally, I would be sitting on the sidelines with a glass of wine in one hand and a snack in the other, watching the kids play and practically demolish the house. It's totally fine when it's not your own house! But this time it was different. I had brought Matteo along, and he finds other kids quite interesting. And not the kids his own age who sit cutely on the floor and play quietly with a balloon, but the 'big boys' around four years old who chase each other and fight with swords! Once Matteo gets used to all the hustle and bustle and stimuli, he's a very sociable child and wants to crawl after everyone. He'd prefer to run along, but he's still a bit too small for that. He also likes to stand at wobbly tables and touch things that are not baby-proof. As a result, I was constantly walking after my baby to make sure he didn't hurt himself. This birthday party started at 4:00 PM and by 8:30 PM I went home exhausted. Once home, I put Matteo straight to bed and blissfully settled on the couch with my well-deserved glass of wine! Next month it's my turn, and I didn't even want to think about it yet. Children's birthdays are intense!

On November 11th, my dearest, strongest, greatest treasure turned one year old. As you all know, Matteo was born prematurely and we missed out on a lot. No baby shower, no baby reception, and no maternity visits. I still feel a bit like I need to make up for it. Not consciously, but subconsciously I still do it. Not out of guilt, because neither of us can help that he was born early, but more from a feeling that he so deserves it. I wanted to organize a big party for him where everyone could come and where nothing was too much in terms of decorations or cake! I thought it would be fun to stick to the jungle theme like his bedroom. I was already busy in my head organizing his birthday while The Lion King was playing in the cinema and eventually, the theme became The Lion King in the jungle!

I ordered my decorations well in advance and since delivery times can sometimes be half a year, okay I'm exaggerating, I wanted to be on time. I couldn't decide and ended up ordering just about everything related to the jungle! Luckily, I received everything on time! Since we had never thrown a party for Matteo before, I wanted everyone to be there. Family, friends, and even distant relatives. Nothing was too much. Some would also see Matteo for the first time. This resulted in us expecting to receive 45 people, and the capacity of our house couldn't really handle it. I was very optimistic and kept thinking: "This will be fine". Until two nights before the party, when my partner and I were awake half the night with stress. "Should we call people off? Should we split the day in two? But what about the cake? Do we cut the beautiful Lion King cake that costs €100 in half?" No, this was not an option for me. So, I had to look for a party tent and hope that people would also be willing to stand outside.

Once the party got started, I noticed it was really too crowded

It was cozy, but packed! I had decorated the entire house and was constantly busy making sure everyone was having a good time. I had everything planned out, but with so many people coming in at different times, things went awry. I felt like I was flying around all afternoon, barely spoke to anyone, and in between, I also took care of my child. It was fun, but now four days later, I'm still recovering! That's why I now have a few tips as a super-experienced-kids-party mom!

Tip 1

Split the birthday celebrations for family and friends if possible. That way, you won't have to rush between your friends and family, and you'll probably be able to enjoy it more yourself!

Tip 2

Decorating your entire house is fun and it looks cozy, but a lot of decorations are not sustainable and don't last long. I have some cardboard flags that I can reuse, but I've also thrown away a lot, and that's a waste. Even if you buy it from Uncle Ali in China, it still costs quite a bit if you buy so much!

Tip 3

Set a specific time for cutting the cake and communicate this when inviting your guests. I had this in mind, but not everyone was there at that time, so I kept postponing it. Eventually, we started cutting the cake around 4:30 PM and we only opened a large part of the presents the next day, because everyone was already leaving. This is of course logical, as it's a children's birthday party and they often only last until 5 PM at the latest!

Tip 4

Make sure there is a quiet spot where the children can play. There were six children here, four of whom were one year old. The older boys could navigate through the crowd reasonably well, but the babies all wanted to crawl, stand, and walk. There was no play area due to the lack of space, and as a result, all the babies had to be held by their parents, which meant they quickly became restless and agitated.

Tip 5

Try to enjoy! This tip is very important and it's the only one I've managed to stick to. Your child only turns one year old once or two years old once, so cherish it! Accept help when someone offers it and try to delegate. You're the hostess, but you don't have to do everything alone. After all, you're also the mom of that sweet birthday child and you should definitely take the time to cuddle, sing songs, and have a glass of wine to celebrate your little one!

GLADYS