I have tried to throw a themed birthday for my kids every year since they have been born and every year I fail. I come up with these great ideas like months in advanced and then when it comes to execute them I choke. Not sure how it happens besides the fact that I am a procrastinator, but it always happens. This year was going to be different. I told myself that I would pull this off. My daughter wanted a mermaid party and by God she was going to get a mermaid party. Actually I don’t think she necessarily wanted a mermaid party as much as she just wanted a birthday party. I mean she is four and basically just wanted to hang out with her friends and eat cake.
With the theme decided it was time to get the party set up, did I mention we decided the theme three weeks before the party? And that we were doing it at our house? I should also mention that we were doing a water party that would take place in our backyard that was not ready for a bunch of kids to run through (we are currently trying to fix up our backyard). You would think this wouldn’t be a problem, but my husband was working almost everyday and we also decided to go camping the Friday before her party (party was set for Sunday). Needless to say we had a lot of work to do a few days before we left and even more the day of the party. Nothing says a Teresa party like waiting until the day of to complete everything!
I have to give a huge thanks to my mother for all of her help. Without her I would have basically thrown everything on paper plates and called it a day, but she kept me motivated to stick with the theme. She provided me with the ocean themed serving plates, table cloths that she already had, and let me borrow her drink pitchers. She also made the dairy and egg free cupcakes for me and brought me balloons to make jellyfish. She’s the real MVP here. I should also thank my father for making all of the little girls who attended little bracelets. They turned out really cute and made great party favors.
Now on to the day of the party…..
Woke up later than usual, because you know…procrastinator and began my day of watching YouTube and eating breakfast. Around 9:45a I finally got dressed and frantically ran to Walmart to get all of the food. Because my daughter has a dairy and egg allergy we really wanted this day to be all about her. She is always such a trooper when we go to other kids’ birthday parties so we wanted to make sure that all the food we had was ok for her to eat and basically all of her favorites. I should add that in case you don’t have a four year old, their favorites change literally by the second. So we had pigs in a blanket, gummy worms/bears, apples, strawberries, grapes, and carrots. The menu might sound weird, but those really are her favorites, at least they were before the party. Come party time all she cared about was the gummy worms, apples, and grapes. She couldn’t be bothered with anything else, but that’s ok because we didn’t have to worry about any cross contamination with her and that’s what was most important.
Now I should add that I really wanted to make some cutesy names for all of the food, but time was not on my side so they ended up being just basic food.
Back to my day…
After Walmart I literally had to finish all the errands of getting decorations, make and set up all the food and oh yeah get myself presentable for people. I was killing it so much that the food was still being made when the guests started showing up, so yeah I’m a Rockstar. Luckily my guest love and understand the true me.
Party Favors
Mermaid Pinata that my daughter named Baby… in my opinion you shouldn’t name something you’re about to hit with a bat in order to get the candy out, but whatever.
My attempt at putting a number 4 up, but instead made a P for pathetic
Food spread
The party was a roaring success, everyone had a blast and honestly it was super easy to come together once I sat down and thought about it.
Some things I learned about this experience:
- Plan more than 3 weeks in advance
- Make a list of everything you want in the order of importance (thought about doing it and I’m beating myself up for not actually doing it)
- Buy everything except food as soon as you can. That way all you have to worry about closer to the day is the food and it will make the set up go faster.
- Remain calm and don’t stress out. It’s a little kid’s party and it doesn’t matter how perfect it turns out as long as the birthday child is happy. If your guest really love you they won’t care how it is executed.
- Remember to enjoy the moment. I was so worried about making everything perfect, I didn’t get to truly enjoy our girl. I got some pictures, but definitely would have liked more and I’m super thankful for my mother-in-law for getting some really cute shots for me.
So in the end….
Don’t break yourself trying to throw the perfect party, I mean yeah put a little effort so your kids know you care, but honestly though, as long as they get to play with their friends and know that they have a day all about them. Nothing else will matter. Do what you can, but always remember if your child is happy, you did something right.