I don't know about you, but my kids' birthday parties cause me stress. And work. Oh yeah, a lot of work.
I think it has something to do with the fact that we live in the age of Pinterest and Instagram: there are all these amazing ideas available, right there at my fingertips. The possibilities are endless. But, then as the big day looms nearer...reality kicks in.
Here's how birthday parties at our house usually go: kid picks a birthday party theme. I look up a million ideas online. Kid decides they don't want that theme anymore, they want a new one. I look up a million more ideas. I add an unrealistic amount of things to my to-do list (I'm talking shopping, baking, crafting) but I don't get started until two days before the party. I do none of those things. I stress out and feel like a crap mom. Then, somehow, I pull together two or three things off the list and BAM, it's a theme. I Instagram a single picture and congratulate myself.
It's exhausting.
Now, I have three kids so slowly (and I'm talking reeeeeal slowly), I'm beginning to pick up a trick or two along the way.
I will admit it, I'm working to kick my illusions that I can comfortably pull off a Pinterest-worthy event. At the end of the day, our kids remember us and that's what's most important; not the fact that we stayed up until midnight crafting paper fish for their mermaid-themeed birthday party.
With that being said, I'm all about trying to get back to the basics.
Here's my parenting hack for birthday parties: PLAN A PANCAKE BREAKFAST.
You'll thank me for this one. Have kids come for about 10AM and they'll be gone by noon. Tell them to come in their pajamas. You can grab a bunch of pancake toppings (whip cream, berries, syrup, M&Ms...) and you don't actually even need to get a birthday cake either: simply pop some candles on top of a delectable stack of flapjacks instead. It's so easy.
To make it even easier, I've included a free birthday party invite for you to use. Click on the link HERE and print the pdf onto cardstock. Dang, we're on a roll...
