Who to invite?
How many to invite?
If you don't invite so-and-so, will his mom be offended?
At home or at a kids entertainment centre?
What should the theme be?
What goes into the party bags?
Too much hassle and stress.
The last time we had a party for Beth was when she was 3.
I well remember the occasion, not just because it was the first time Beth was having such a big do, but because I was bursting with the thrill of being preggers again.
(Except I miscarried a month later.)
This year, Beth started working on Mom and Dad a few months in advance.
"Can I have a party?" she would ask every fortnight or so.
We started with a firm no, which slowly gave way to a reluctant yes.
To make the occasion manageable for her and for ourselves, we said she could invite just 6 guests (one for each year of her age).
After a lot of thought, she pared down the list to her teacher and five best buddies.
Other than the birthday girl's fairy costume, which we chanced upon when we wandered into a costume hire shop in Altona, everything else was available at Big W and Coles.
Perhaps the most stressful part was baking the 20 muffins for Beth's class.
Her friend, who turned 6 in June, had set the bar really high with beautiful home-baked fairy cakes with blue/pink frosted icing, each cake individually wrapped in cellophane paper and tied with a ribbon.
We settled for blueberry muffins delivered in a basket.
It was wonderful to see the kids stream out at dismissal time, each one holding a muffin. Some had already started eating theirs.
"My son lurved your blueberry muffin. You're lucky!" said one mom to me. *Awshucks*
Here's what the birthday girl and her guests got up to last Friday.
As with many things in life, the KISS principle worked really well.
We're grateful and privileged to have shared Beth's special day with people she loves hanging out with.
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