How important are LOs bday parties - to you?

[tallanvor]

Originally Posted by Smidgerooski My dh and I aren't into BIG parties, e.g. pony rides, circus stuff, etc. Our dd just had her 1st bday and we just had family over for snacks and cake (dd had a peanut butter covered banana ). When our kids get older we'll keep it low key. I'm not saying we won't make it special, b/c we will and we're very much into making traditions like I cook everyone's fave dinner on their birthday, their fave cake, etc. My fave bday when I was a kid was a bike parade. My mom put it together and had my gfs come over and bring their bikes. My mom bought all kinds of 'prettys' to decorate our bikes and then we all rode down the street and thought it was soooo cool. It probably cost my mom like $30 for the whole thing. Then we came back and ate pizza and cake. I remember it being so much fun...not excessive in the least

That's like how I had birthdays growing up and how we do them for our kids. We've only had one themed birthday party and it was a Laura Ingalls Wilder party and I might have spent $15 on the whole thing, including the supplies for the cake. My daughter loved it. We did a tea party once with real tea cups that I got from the thrift stores, and little cookies and whatnot. Had the girls come in dresses if they wanted to. Again, they had a blast. My son's last birthday I had a couple games planned, but the kids had so much fun playing in Aiden's room that we never did any of the games and none of the kids cared.

But my favorite birthday growing up was the upside-down-backwards party. We ate under the table and wore our clothes funny and the games were backwards, as well. Was so much fun!