Have you ever wanted to skip the party this year with your kids?
Just ditch the hassle, celebrate them simply, and go guilt-free?
Well, you can simplify birthdays – but you don’t need to quit the party hosting to do it. (Unless you want to!)
Read on for three hacks to make birthdays lighter for you.
(Since you’re the one doing the planning, wrapping, buying, and cooking!)
List the downers
The most important question you’re going to ask yourself is this: What’s stressing me out about the current state of affairs?
- Is it cooking food for twenty people and a million small kids?
- Is it the pressure of Pinterest-perfect party decorations?
- Is it dealing with the personalities of all the parents-of-best-friends or extended family who’d be offended not to be invited?
- Is it cleaning up after a herd of rampaging elephants has gone through your house, leaving you holding the trash bag and eyeing the cake crumbs in every room?
What is it that’s really bothering you about your current way of holding birthday parties?
Go big or go small; both matter.
Just get it all out there.
Find the can’t-skip traditions
Now, here’s what we’re going to do next: Think through your non-negotiables.
Yes, that’s right. Now that we’ve covered the negative, let’s turn to the positive.
What has to happen for you to feel that you’ve wished your son a happy birthday? Given your daughter a special day?
This is your chance to really dig deep into cherished family traditions and drill down to the most essential parts of your family birthday celebration.
What would feel weird, wrong, or otherwise not right to you if you skipped it this year? Like it wasn’t a party thrown by your family?
Keep all those things. (But first, we have to write them down!)
Think through your non-negotiables.
Merge the two lists
Last thing, now: We’re going to come up with a new plan – one that blends your must-haves with your avoid-at-all-costs.
Look at your two lists side by side.
What are the common themes in the “stresses me out” list? What about the “like to do” list?
More than likely, you’ve got something like “hate cooking for thirty people” and “hate overseeing party games for a million wiggling preschoolers” but “love tying birthday balloons to my kid’s chair in the morning” and “love putting our special cake topper on this year’s cake.”
Well, then?
Buy the food (or ask your mom to bake her special cupcakes), skip the party games, buy the balloons, and enjoy putting the final touches on that from-the-store cake.
Knowing there will be balloons on her seat is what makes her birthday special for your daughter.
Looking forward to the reappearance of your wacky cake topper when he blows out the candles is one of the things your son remembers.
Not how many people were in attendance (26, or 36? I can’t remember.…) or whether they played spin the bottle. (Really!)
So cut out all the things you hate doing, or outsource them to a friend (or the store!), and jump in to the good stuff – the “only our family does this” stuff.
You’ll find planning the next birthday party is a much more joyful process.
What are you ditching from the party planning this year, guilt-free?
