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A party-free first birthday...

1/13/2014

8 Comments

 
In exactly one week the Bean turns one. ONE! Mr P&P and I have been taking turns all weekend to come up with cliches like:

“Christ he’s going to be one next week”
“This time last year he wasn’t even here yet…”
“OMG he’s almost not a baby anymore”

"I feel old..."

What we haven’t done, however, is plan a first birthday party. We haven’t bought him a present or even decided what, if anything, we will give him. Does that make us really, really mean parents?
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The truth is that I just don’t know how to celebrate this. Yes it’s a massive milestone, but it’s not one he’s aware of. Any type of celebration would really only be for us. If his grandparents were nearby we would probably spend the day with them, which he’d love, but they’re not. We could invite friends over instead, but again, that’d be for us not him.

On top of all that, Mr P&P is in the very final weeks of thesis-writing. Every now and again he surfaces from behind his screen, a slightly diluted and hunted-down look about him. Even the most simple of everyday requests, such as “could you take out the rubbish when you have a moment” are met with an expression of confusion. I don’t think he could cope with as weighty an existential conundrum as “how shall we celebrate the Bean’s birthday?”.

So I don’t think we’ll be having a party. What I hope we’ll do instead is all the everyday things that the Bean loves.

Go to the playground
Blow bubbles
Scoot around in the laundry basket
Bang some blocks together
Play peekaboo with the curtains
Have lunch out and charm the waiters into giving us free focaccia again
Curl up and watch videos on Youtube

And you know what, I’m perfectly happy with that. A party would have been fun but he doesn't really need loads of people coming round (and a mummy stressing about what to feed them). He doesn't need lots of presents. What he needs is for us to take a break from the humdrum, to show him how much we like spending time with him. 

And when daddy's thesis is finally done, we'll have a MASSIVE knees-up.

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8 Comments
GM
1/13/2014 02:22:17 pm

May I suggest you transfer the birthday celebration to the Easter holidays and plan a few fun things then?

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Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork link
1/14/2014 01:37:46 pm

Well GM, we'll certainly think about it :-)

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Philippa Hammond
1/13/2014 02:26:16 pm

I couldn't agree more. We had a small, family-only gathering for Aaron's first birthday. Anything more just felt like it would create a list tasks for my own gratification, rather than his.

The same is true this year. Maybe when he is 3 and perhaps expresses a clear wish for a proper party, we will try something more. But for now, this is what makes him (and therefore us) happy.

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Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork link
1/14/2014 02:00:07 pm

I would have thought 3 is the earliest too. In October we flew back to Belgium for my nephews 3rd birthday party, and he was clearly very into it all. He was even aware of the fact we'd come over specially for him. He was thrilled about it! It was very sweet.

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Kathelyne Lippens
1/14/2014 12:35:07 am

Wat een leuke bijna-eenjarige en al een hippe haarcoupe " of a fashion hairstylist in Milano"
Het zal een fijn en kindvriendelijk feestje worden ! Kijken al uit naar de altijd prachtige foto's.

Reply
Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork link
1/14/2014 02:01:46 pm

Tja kijk, wie niet stil kan blijven zitten bij de fameuze hairstylist krijgt een scheve coupe met tripkes!

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3yearsandhome link
1/15/2014 02:16:18 pm

I'm with you on this one! BB turned one last week and his older brother and I made cupcakes to celebrate but that was about it really. My dad came to have lunch with us and there may have been a little more singing than normal but no huge fuss. Oh, and I bought him two new tooth brushes and a pair of maracas - all very happily received with no request for additional gifts :-)

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Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork link
1/16/2014 06:57:39 am

Getting the big bro involved sounds like a lovely way to celebrate :-) I can imagine the maracas went down well too - M loves anything that makes a racket!

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