Making party memories

It is coming up for Malakai's birthday and I am totally unprepared - in fact, I am always totally unprepared for most major events, I should know that by now. I am simply not one of those moms - y'know the kind that whip amazing parties together without as much as chipping their manicured nails?

I find the whole affair of themed birthday parties totally overwhelming, both in the time they take to arrange as well as the dent they make in the cheque account. It's not that I haven't tried, which I have really! Both the boys' first birthday parties were lavish and expensive affairs - all the decor, the food, the colour-coordination... And I attempted the whole thing again for Malakai's second birthday, and that was where it ended, rather abruptly.

Six months later - for Harlan's second birthday - we found ourselves on a family holiday at a working dairy farm in the beautiful Underberg. My husband and I figured that if we were going to spend that kind of money, rather spend it on a family holiday, a time of togetherness. And boy did we make memories! The children ran out the cottage every morning to see the cows munch their way from the field above the cottage, to the field below. We braaied every night, took road trips, climbed mountains and walked alongside streams. The boys drew in the sand with sticks and the very friendly farmer let them ride the tractor up and down the tree-hugged lane. There was no television, and we didn't care because the view was amazing.

Wow, I felt like I'd made the right decision to rather spend 'party money' on a memory-soaked experience for the boys and us... So for Malakai's third birthday we planned another trip - this time to Shelly Beach; a place straight from my very own childhood memories. Malakai loves the beach, like most kids, and so it was booked. Little did we know that the week we were at the beach was the same week it snowed in Gauteng (and much of the rest of SA)! We didn't get the snow in Shelly Beach, but we did get constant horizontal downpour for three days. I will never forget how I had to convince two very impatient toddler boys that we really actually were at the sea, and no they couldn't actually see it, but I promise it's really actually there, if the weather would just play along! This was followed by three very magical days of beach walking, sandy feet, buckets and spades, colourful umbrellas and cooler boxes filled with sarmies, cool drinks, crisps and ice creams.

 

 

 

It was another memorable tick on my 'what I have done right by the kids' list. And so we went... until now.

Now I'm faced with two boys (no longer babies, or toddlers) who desperately love birthday parties. They talk about the parties we are invited to for weeks after. Weeks I tell you! How can I not give them their own birthday parties? Of course we had balloons, cakes, candles and pressies on all our holidays, but it's just not the same without friends, noise and mess is it?

So here I am, having to plan a party again - themes, games, invites - and even though I'd much rather prefer to make memories as a family, I know that this too will be full of good memories for my children - its worth it, if only for the smiles on their faces.