When I was busy making babies, I forgot to read the memo on planning their birthday parties. It goes something like this: “It’s like planning for a wedding, except worse.” Or “Party planning: NOT all fun and games.” Or “Kids parties, just don’t do it.”
So we went right on ahead and held a party for Tru in his school on his birthday. It was supposed to be a small affair, with a combined birthday bash coming up (God help me) for both kids sometime later in the month (a mid-point between both their birthdays). But small affairs are never quite so small for us because two days prior, we start getting into a frenzy like “Get the party packs, food, snacks and don’t forget the cake, WE NEED A LARGE CAKE FOR A SWARM OF HUNGRY LITTLE PEOPLE.”
Knowing us, we really did forget the cake and Kelvin had to run out to the store the night before the party at 9.30pm to beg them to keep the store open so that he could buy the cake.
About the party packs, I was always under the impression that the birthday person was supposed to GET presents, not give out 30 presents to his friends on his birthday. See, I didn’t get that memo either, and good thing Tru’s teacher reminded us about the party packs, because we would have ended up as the only scroogy parents who didn’t give out presents.
We decided to give out stuff that parents wouldn’t secretly chuck into the bin when their kids got home. We got them character-themed A4 folder, customized name stickers, a crayon set, a stationery set, cute paper clips, milo, raisins and a snack.
Tru got to dress up all nice and preppy for school that day, just in case his friends got confused as to whose birthday it was. I almost wanted to get him a crown and a scepter so that he could order all his friends around and make them clean his toes because that’s the kind of thing you should do on your birthday, but it was also the kind of thing that would get you hazed in the toilet the next day. So I went conservative and stuck to a white shirt and jeans.
During the whole party, Tru went around looking like he was on a lot of weed. He was walking around in a daze, not sure why he was getting all the attention, and more importantly, why he had to serve cake to all his friends first before he could have any. After giving out the sixteenth piece of cake, he was all like “come on momma, get a move on and give me my cake NOW!“
After he finally had his cake and ate it, he was back to being happy as a clam, and moved on to happier things like nose picking.
39 Comments
Although the last pic doesn’t make Tru look good (notti mummy), he still the 白马王子 for the day!
.-= sunflower´s last blog ..The Rash Never Go Away =-.
@sunflower, HAHA. Well as long as he doesn’t make it a habit…
Wow I would have loved to receive your party pack! So cool. Can’t wait to read about the bash =D
@Momo, Ya I hope it goes well so we can celebrate a combined one every year. If I have a another one the EDD will have to be Jun/Jul as well. Twins would be awesome.
I digress..
Wah, the boy sure looks very ‘shuai’ !!!
.-= sammicheng´s last blog ..Beautiful Chimes =-.
@sammicheng, Thanks, I thought he looked more blur than anything though that morning…
Oh my Oh my! You printed CUSTOMISED name stickers for all the kids? Like seriously?? You’re one thoughtful mummy!
.-= kless´s last blog ..5 Minutes =-.
@kless, thanks Klessis, frankly all I did was to get the class list and email this person who is doing it on the motherhood forums. Cheap and good, though there were a couple of spelling errors…
Been there, done that, thought I was done forever… till Narelle came along. Oh well, I see these same parties in my near future… have a blessed weekend!
.-= Serline´s last blog ..Friendly Faces in the Neighbourhood =-.
@Serline, oops your comment went into my spam queue somehow.
Yes, many more parties for Narelle in the years to come!
Clapclap… those party packs were really great, makes me want to be a kid at your party haha… The personalized name stickers were a really thoughtful and nice touch!
The little boy looks really smart in his white shirt!
.-= Jus´s last blog ..Thing Thursdays: Treasure in a bottle =-.
@Jus, Hahah, i can’t quite do amazing handicraft like you can so just have to make do with getting stuff off-the-shelf.
Yes, he looked blur but still very smart in his white shirt.
The customized names stickers were a great idea.
@Lazymummy, Ya it was, unfortunately besides the spelling errors the lady also omitted one name, so one set didn’t have stickers. I hope the boy didn’t notice!
I am so impressed with your party pack. I’m sure the kids got all excited over them! And those photos of Tru make me laugh. He’s so adorable with his ‘blur’ look.
Happy birthday to you Tru! :)
@Ing, Thanks! Uh, actually we had no idea whether they liked it cause we weren’t supposed to distribute them before classes ended (we left a little earlier). I suppose the teachers didn’t want to be thronged to death!
Cool party packs…I like the personalised name stickers. Tru facial expression in the photos kind of reminds me of Kyle when he was his age… that blur look will soon give way to cheeky grins and monkey faces soon :)
.-= Rachel´s last blog ..The terrific threes? =-.
@Rachel, Hahaha yes, and I’m looking forward to the terrific threes as well!
I like the party packs, especially the personalised name stickers!
@lilsnooze, yes they are pretty cool and comes in different colours and designs too!
Us parents are possibly more excited than the kids..
This post just reminded me I have a 2nd birthday bash looming next mth! OH NO!
@Jaime, Well you have more than enough time to put it together, just don’t leave it till the day BEFORE like I did!
Hi Daphne,
Thanks for dropping a message on my blog!
You have a great blog! I enjoy reading your blog very much. Will definitely roll back to your older posts when I have time to. I particularly love all your photos, they were all so well taken, better than the pro photographer, as I can sense one more thing called love! Are you using a DSLR?
You have such a beautiful pair! Your 2 kids have pretty close age gap, ya? Probably closer than my pair. You have been doing a great job!
Last but not least, Happy 2nd Birhtday to Tru!
@Kam, thank you! The only thing pro is indeed the DSLR and even that its not THAT pro since i’m now eyeing the canon 50D and Sigma 30mm but that’s another story.
The kids were intentionally had a year after another but if I announce no.3 anytime in the next 2 years don’t believe for a moment it was planned…
@Daphne, What’s the model you are currently using?
Haha, 2 is enough? You are still very young, go for #3 and #4!!!
BTW, I add you in my blogroll, ya :-)
@Kam, I’m using the 400D at the moment.
Four is the target, although now that things are somewhat settled down I can’t imagine going through the whole cycle all over again…
Happy birthday Tru ! Trust that you had a great party. Best wishes and keep well, ok!
@Hendra, Thank you Hendra, saw your interview on OMY! Great job.
i have to say this. i really don’t like the whole goodie bag thingie, especially when taken to extremes. parents should really be left to decide if they wanna do it. cos what about parents who may not be as well-off? hmmm… oftentimes parents also give lots of unsavoury stuff like toys not meant for the right age group… grrr…. well, that’s just me and my opinion.
.-= tumbleweeed´s last blog ..mirroring =-.
@tumbleweeed, the goodie bags that Truett was getting from his schoolmates were noticeably more, how should i put it, elaborate, as the months wore on. By the time we hit April the goodie bags were more like goodie sacks or something. In fact Kel was saying we should chuck an Ipod Nano into each of ours for good measure. We win.
Aside from that, I totally agree that its an unnecessary strain on the parents’ finances to have to put together something just because everyone else is doing it. You know how it is though…Parental pressure is no joke.
@Daphne, Hell yeah! talk about the pressure. Last year, when my son’s birthday fell on a Sunday, the teachers kept asking if i would celebrate in school. I said no, cos it doesn’t make sense to celebrate his birthday twice – we’re quite down to earth hahaha – so i said, when his birthday falls on a schoolday, yes, then we will do it. This year, it will. Shucks. i think if i do the goodie bag thingie- it will be recyclable or entirely organic consumable! i duno… yes that parental pressure thingie is no joke. wait till they get into primary school, i think we’ll be in for lots more white hair! argggghh
.-= tumbleweeed´s last blog ..mirroring =-.
@tumbleweeed, Hahahha an entirely organic consumable bag would be the most awesome thing ever. It’s like eating wanton. All the goodness inside plus the skin as well.
If those bags look like real plastic or paper would be an real plus, we’ll get to see the panicky look of other parents when they see their own kid chewing on PVC.
Uh – do kids celebrate birthdays in primary school classes too these days??
@Daphne, hahaha…i think the 1-ipod-nano-per-goodie-bag is an extremely good idea. that will put ALL OTHER PARENTS in parental pressure! *LOL
but seriously, thanks for sharing this post so i’d know what to expect (or rather, expected from US the parents) when the babes’ bdays roll around this Sept. Anyway their handbook says parents are only to bring ONE CAKE, nothing else… so i guess i can go ‘goodies bags? what goodie bags??’
@leslie, Nice move but you better have a really awesome cake that will give the kids amnesia. And the teachers too so they forget to ask you about it after a while.
Here for the first time today and absolutely love what you have going on here. am bookmarking you :)
.-= b´s last blog ..I’ll be eating this book today =-.
@b, wow thanks! I checked out your link and completely blown away by your typography work. Very impressive!
Happy Birthday! that’s a really cool party pack:) Where did you get the little stickers?
.-= Yen´s last blog ..In this quiet space =-.
@Yen, hi Yen, I email you the contact ok?
thanks for popping by our blog. Happy Belated Birthday Tru!