E's Birthday

We had E's birthday party yesterday, because he turned two earlier in the week. Although it was nothing spectacular to most people, I do want to write about it because it was fun and important to us. We invited only a few people, and half of them cancelled so at the end of the day we had five guests, three parents and two children. Only one of the children was (almost) in E's age group, but the other is a friend of J's. I wasn't concerned about this, because E is familiar and comfortable with everyone who showed and he was happy they came.

I didn't organize any games. I thought about it, but with four children, all at different ages, it would have been impossible to come up with anything appropriate. I also didn't organize a huge event, like a trip to the park. We would have played outside but it was raining. So as it was, we started in the playroom in the basement, then migrated to the living room. I can't say enough for the value and simplicity of a roomful of balloons and noise makers. J and his friend ended up back downstairs, while E and his little girlfriend co-existed upstairs. They didn't play together, but they were in the same room.

I served simple snacks. Entertaining (even for a small group) always motivates me to invest in real, matching serving dishes, because there was a pretty motley assortment of dishes on the table. Nothing fancy, simply our ordinary table wear with some cut up food on it, but it was functional. The good news is our guests aren't the judgmental type so I could relax about that. I also tried to make a cake for E, not once but twice. I used the wrong flour with the first, so it turned out very dense and while tasty, not birthday-cakey. The second, I used the wrong mixer so there were bubbles that weren't fit for icing. I cut up both to freeze and serve as snack cakes for J and E, and since I ran out of time (and room in the freezer for another mistake) I ended up purchasing a standard cake from the grocery store. I think birthday parties should have homemade cakes, but enough was enough. I tried. And the store cake was good!

Then we did presents, which was a bit of an ordeal. E opened the first and got distracted. It was a wonderful set of Velcro produce: fruits and veggies that can be cut with a play knife and stuck back together like a 3-D puzzle. E can't get enough of it and he forgot that there were more gifts to open, but eventually he made it to the finish line. He also got a car mat, that quite perfectly is part of a set he already has. They are two different mats that fit together to make a larger city, and he loves that too. He also got some cars (I hope I don't need to say he adores them) and new shirts. He is a little fashionista (fashionisto?) and they were both green, his favourite colour. E got his presents from us earlier in the week on his birthday, but it may have been overwhelming to have many more.

Then J handed out the goodie bags, making sure he restocked them with extra stuff and everyone got their favourite colours of the goodies. The party lasted about two hours, which to me is short but necessarily so for E's age. So all in all it wasn't much. There were a few no-shows and cancellations, there wasn't an organized agenda and the food wasn't professional catering. But everyone had fun and it was nice to be able to talk and have the kids play together without being too busy. The people who showed are people who care about E and know him well enough to buy the perfect presents. Food presentation may have been lacking but my mismatched plates were almost empty when it was over, so I served the right snack. Every attendee had a piece of cake (which they might not have if I'd served my homemade ones). And this may not be important to the rest of you but it is to me: when people arrived my house was clean. I mean immaculately so. When they left, not so much, but it's the first impressions that are memorable, right?

After a positive and quiet party (the loud kids were downstairs, remember?), I have decided that it was just right. Not much went as planned, but that's perhaps what made it so perfect. And E had a great time, which is really all that matters. Even if it seems too simple for the majority of the population, to E, and to us, it was spectacular.