Within the last month, three of my six kids have had birthdays. It’s a very lean month in our household – topping up RESPs along with throwing a few birthday parties can take its toll on anyone’s budget.
In addition to not liking birthdays’ financial implications, I think birthday parties are a royal pain. I know many party mamas out there who relish in planning extravagant events, particularly their children’s parties. Indeed, I have one friend who says one of the things she loves most about being a mother is throwing birthday parties. That mama is not me. Birthday parties make the bottom of my list of things I love about being a mama. Yes, I like my kids to have fun and enjoy their special day, but all the hoopla around it doesn’t float my boat.
So when I throw a party, it’s all about keeping it simple. I thought it would be fun to compare some of my tips and strategies with those of my friend, Janine who is mama party planner extraordinaire. In September, she is well in planning mode for a January birthday. All the neighbourhood kids have fingers crossed that their name makes the list. In short, Janine generally makes me look like a complete slacker.
The rules according to me, the “Keep It Simple Mom”:
- Have a no birthday present policy.
- Have a no loot bag policy.
- Plan your parties at a time that will ensure you do not have to prepare a meal for little guests.
- Don’t over-engineer the thing – kids are old pros at figuring out how to have fun.
- Sure have a theme, but don’t bother obsessing. You don’t want to have to drive around to 10 different stores just to get the napkins that match the plates.
- Don’t have it in your house. Way too much cleaning is involved then – you’ll end up cleaning before AND after the party.
The rules according to Janine, “Keener Perfectionist Mom”:
- EVERYTHING needs to be matchy matchy – pick a theme and colour scheme and stick with it: invitations, decorations, balloons, utensils, EVERYTHING!
- Make it an event – seal invitations with a stamp monogram and mail them because kids love getting mail.
- Don’t scrimp on the cake – if nothing else is done right, be sure that you have a fabulous cake (which of course corresponds to the party theme!)
- Mind your present etiquette. If opening at party, tape a half circle in front of birthday child, have 2 chairs (one for birthday child, one for gift giver). Read card together and open gift. Take a picture of birthday child with gift and gift giver and send as a “thank you” after the party.
Janine also agrees that the birthday present thing can get a bit much and suggests donations in lieu of gifts, and also checking out www.echoage.com
There you have it – what kind of party planner are you? Apply the rules that most suit you and I’m pretty sure your kid will have a great party that even mama will enjoy.
Several years ago, I reluctantly moved to the suburbs. I missed my life as an urban mama cruising all the mama haunts with my three babes loaded up in a triple stroller. Suddenly every outing involved a mini-van. Since the move, my kid crew has doubled in size and like it or not, suburbia is the very best place for us.
This was reinforced last week when we held the Mabel’s Labels Staff and Family Summer Sizzler in my backyard. I gotta say, life is pretty good if you are a kid hanging out in my backyard. We keep things pretty kid focused around here so there is no shortage of activities – we have a heated swimming pool, trampoline, sand pit, swing set, and bikes and riding toys galore. To top it off, our house backs on to a huge park that is easily accessed by a gate in our back fence. Last Thursday, the Mabel team (and kiddos) rocked up and had a taste of my life in the suburbs.
Many years ago upon arriving to Canada, my grandparents co-founded a local Irish Club. Every year there was an annual picnic that was jam-packed with activities like running races and relay games. We enjoyed the picnic so much that it became a highlight of the summer.
In the spirit of the old Irish Club picnics, I put together an agenda of cheesy games and races. On top of doing the usual three-legged race and egg-toss, I added a few new ones to the mix that were nothing short of hilarious!
1) The Mommy Call:
You sit all the kids in their sibling groups at the finish line. The mamas get blind-folded at the start line. The kids then all start screaming “MOM! MOM!” and the first mama to find her kiddos is declared the winner.
2) The Daddy Piggy Back:
This activity requires dad to carry all of his children on his back while racing to the finish line. If a child falls off, dad is not allowed to move until child is back on. Clearly, the daddy-o in our family was at a disadvantage, but that didn’t stop him from giving it a good go. I pulled some rank and only allowed him to carry four of them at once – the thought of them all falling and landing on the baby was really too much for one mama to handle.
So maybe life in the suburbs is not so bad. Just imagine trying to pull off some of this fun elsewhere – dads stumbling through the city streets, loaded down with kids and tripping over the latte-sipping city folk in sidewalk cafes. Yep, I think for now this is right where we belong.
Mabel’s Labels is pleased to announce the ten finalists of our “Wish You Were Here” Contest. We came up with the idea for this contest after reading and hearing so many stories about bloggers who were unable to attend the BlogHer ’09 conference last week in Chicago.
We asked BlogHer ’09 attendees who they wished could have been there with them at the event. The winner will receive an all expenses paid trip to for BlogHer ’10 in New York City and so will the blogger they wished was there.
Thank you to everyone who recorded a video and shared it with us. It was a blast meeting everyone and watching your fantastic entries. Here are the top ten finalists!
I think we can all agree that the title of this particular blog is significantly less flash than “Sex in the City” but then again, so are our lives. With the movie about to hit cinemas, it is fascinating to reflect that the population of mamas I hang out with (current company included) are mildly obsessed with the show, its characters, and the soon to be movie. Moms groups and mama friends are buzzing with plans about hitting opening night. Facebook even has an application where you can discover which SITC character you are most like. It’s nothing short of a phenomenon.
Last weekend I had a speaking engagement at the Ontario Camping Association spring training session. One of my Mabel colleagues joined me. On the drive home from Toronto, she found herself bombarded with questions. You see, she is an early thirty-something single who has an apartment, is an artist, dates cute boys, has friends, and is completely accountable to herself. I had forgotten what a woman does when she doesn’t have to go home and fix the disasters that occurred in her absence. I was hungry to be reminded. So the question period began: “what are you doing this afternoon? Oh, you might go to the park and read? What will you read…..then you might go shopping? Where do you shop? What will you buy? What is cool to wear this spring? Do you have plans for this Saturday night? Are you going out with a cute boy? Will you kiss him? Will you want him to call you tomorrow?”
Needless to say, my kind Mabel friend looked at me like I’m the idiot I so clearly am. She explained that Sex in the City is largely fictional and that just because you have the opportunity to go out all the time, you don’t actually do it. She gently reminded me to go home and enjoy my afternoon at the park, to deal with the mess, and to give the kids a cuddle from her.
So in my best Carrie Bradshaw column impersonation:
“In a world of modern women debating whether they’d rather have husbands or hot dates, Blahniks or babies, parties or playdates, manicures or mini-vans, has the time come for us all to recognize that each of us has a beautiful lawn where the grass is indeed a lovely shade of green?”
I recently wrote a little piece about an annual weekend I do with my old girlfriends – most of whom I started Mabel’s Labels with! Really, you’d think we have enough quality time together! When I say the word “weekend” I use the term very loosely. I usually rock up on Saturday night, then take off before noon on Sunday. BUT, it is a night away so I’m not complaining. That weekend is just around the corner so I thought I’d post the article. I’m thinking that a few of you will be able to relate.
Momma Talk
My ninety-two-year-old grandmother has given birth to a lot of babies. She had babies in the 1930s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. She was collecting the baby bonus and old-age pension at the same time. Grandma is as wise as she is old, so when she talks, this humble creator of five babies drops everything and listens.
Grandma thinks women should not gather and talk about their kids. At first I found this to be a very strange perspective. I have five small kids and can turn every conversation into a discussion around their accomplishments, challenges, teachers, activities, poops, pukes, and sleeping patterns. What more is there going on in my life? If not for kiddie-gab, is there much else I can say?
That is precisely her point. I once returned from a weekend away with my longtime girlfriends. You know the kind of gals I’m talking about — the ones who have been around since the beginning of time. They were there holding your hair back while you puked up the peach schnapps you guzzled in the school parking lot before the dance. They remember when you got your driver’s license, cried with you that first time your heart was broken, and would share your single dorm room bed during a weekend visit. These are the gals who were your bridesmaids and actually knew what you were like before you were someone’s momma.
The weekend was geared to be a fantastic catch-up with the old gang and Grandma gave me strict instructions to report back to her with all the gossip and antics the weekend held. However, come Monday morning, the two of us sat with our cups of tea and I delivered a shockingly boring report. I walked away from that weekend knowing that Little Johnny was an exceptional reader and Little Janey is the best player on her soccer team, but didn’t know much else.
Lamenting this, Grandma perked-up and told me it was time to implement “The Rule.”
As a young mother, Grandma occasionally gathered with a group of women. It was one of the very rare occasions they did not have their children with them. She set a rule for the group. No one was permitted to even whisper her child’s name. “The Rule” was complied with and these women enjoyed many years of social gatherings, discussing every topic imaginable — except their kids.
The next year came quickly and our annual weekend together was around the corner. The e-mails started flying — deciding who was driving, who was cooking, who was bringing the wine! Now was the time to suggest “The Rule,” but I was concerned with how it would be received. I was telling people I didn’t want to hear about their kids — the bonus was they didn’t have to hear about mine!
The two childless friends immediately responded to me. I had been elevated to hero status in their eyes. The other e-mails started trickling in. Everyone agreed that it was time for “The Rule” to be passed onto our generation.
No one will dispute that your children are all consuming and have a way of taking over your entire existence. Even my grandmother would readily agree. I once heard someone say having a child is like watching your heart walk around outside of your body. True enough, but every once in a while you need to step back and find that little piece of yourself that sometimes gets lost in the school meetings, hockey practices, and music lesson drop-offs. For this busy momma, it is officially one weekend a year, but I try not to let the lesson of “The Rule” stray too far.
The Mabelhood is the sum of all blogs, combining posts from Mabel Labels' bloggers Julie Cole, Caitlin Madden and a cast of guest bloggers. The Mabelhood documents the daily dramas of a group of people raising families and a label making business, plus everything else in-between.
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