My son was two years old two week ago. And, we have organised a birthday party with his friends. 
I can’t believe that he is already 2! Where did this time go?
Every day is a challenge when you look after a young child which makes it sounds like difficult. And, yet, you realize that time goes so fast that you better enjoy every moment passing with your little one.
Anyway, my son had his birthday on a Sunday so it was kind of easy to gather people on a week-end.
Party or not Party?
Would you find that two years old is too early to have a party?
I know what you might be thinking…
You will tell me and my husband was the first to tell me that:
“It is too early to have a party for him, because he is too young and he won’t remember a thing!”
I hear you, and of course I thought the same as well.
So, why did I do it then?
Last year, for his first birthday, we celebrated it and we were just 3 of us.
And, clearly, I have founded it quite sad.
I know I have just one child and this is the way it is.
However, I come from a big family and we are used to gather all the time.
Although, I didn’t have any party for my birthday when I was a child (only later on, from time to time), but, there were always cousins and siblings to play with that day anyway.
So, if I were in the Caribbean, my son would have been among his cousins, aunties and uncles.
Since, we have no family here in the UK, I thought to organize something with his friends.
Organising the birthday party
Who to invite?
I suppose you might wonder at at this age, who on earth do your baby know?
Can he have friends at this age?
Well, my son does have some friends he likes playing with.
At the childminder’s place, he have friends that he sees every week.
Also, he meets regularly children of his age at the playgroup with whom he becomes friends with.
So, I have invited them for Joshua’s Birthday party.
My first thought was to invite just those that he sees regularly. However, these friends do have siblings that Josh has met more than once. So, I decided to invite them. It wouldn’t be fair for the siblings, would it?
So, in total we ended up with 8 children plus 3 babies.
Where to do it?
Originally, it was supposed to be at home. But as the number of children growing from 3 to invite to 11 in total,I couldn’t picture out children running all over the house.
Besides, my husband was already worried about his HD/3D TV just bought. He heard recently, from a colleague that his TV screen has been smashed by a child who came over for a birthday party.
So, we thought that hiring a room would make sense and anyway some rooms are very affordable (like less than £25/hour).
One of the advantage of renting a room is that children can run all over the room and you don’t have to worry that they bump into a big furniture.
Also, when they are in one room, it is more manageable rather than having them going from a room to another.
What time?
It is a tricky one. When inviting young children for an event, the time you choose might be right in the middle of their nap time!
Clearly, there is no perfect time.
For Josh’s party, I first thought to invite them at 1 pm, lunch time. But, finally we decided to go for 2 to 5pm.
We’ve the room for this time slot. We should have allocated 2 hours for the party and then the last one for tidying up.
We didn’t do it like that and of course, we were very late to leave the room.
Thanks God, there were a lot of friends to help us clean up.
How to entertain babies?
This one is even more difficult to think about.
How to make sure that babies will have fun?
I thought that might not be as easy than we think. What to do?
My first thinking was to sing nursery song with them with some signs and movements like in a playgroup.
But, good that I went to a birthday party the week and they have hire soft play for the children. And, they loved it.
This idea would have never crossed my mind if I hadn’t been in that birthday.
We thought that was a fantastic idea. So, we went to the package that include a floor mat, a pool of multi color balls, some soft shapes, and a few ride on toys.
Which food?
When dealing with children, preparing foods for them is not always easy.
Of course, there is the healthy side which is easy to do such as vegetable (cucumber and carrot) and fruits.
But, everyone expect to have a ‘less’ healthy side since it is a party. So, we did have piece of pizza, chips and biscuits.
Also, of course to avoid any choking hazards, we have avoid nuts.
How was the party?
We were glad that all the guests were present. We were a nice group and the atmosphere was just great. Parents and children had fun.
I was so pleased to see the children jumping into the pool of balls.
By seeing them running, giggling etc, at this point you’ve realized that you’ve done the right thing.
I don’t think they would have had so much fun if it was at our place.
What about my son?
After all, the party was for him.
My son always needs some time before he get into his environment. Once, he passes this adaptation time, you cannot stop him anymore.
He did have fun and I was so pleased to see him enjoying himself.
Finally, it was a good idea to hire the room so that everyone could enjoy themselves. I think my son understood it was about him when he had to blow the candle.
Then, when we saw all the gifts he had received even though I did mention there was no need to, I really felt guilty. I just wanted Joshua to have fun the day of his birthday. I, thank God that he had been so blessed.
And, you do you have to organize a birthday party for your little one, what are your thoughts? Please feel free to share here.
