Chidrens Birthday Parties

When I was a little girl my mother threw me birthday parties.  My birthday was in August, and even though school was not in session, all of my friends came to celebrate my birthday with me.  We played games and had prizes and opened presents and had homemade birthday cake.

We played silly innocent games like Duck Duck Goose.  We had balloon relay races where we took balloons and raced in a relay one at a time in two teams to a chair where we sat and popped the balloons until someone found the prize balloon with a slip of paper on the inside.  We dropped wooden clothespins into a jar from a step ladder.  We played  Red Rover, Pin the Tail on the Donkey, and Bingo.  It was a time of innocence and imagination.

I remember many parties for my birthday, but its weird, because I don't remember or have pictures of any of my brothers and sisters having parties.  I wonder if it was because I was not present, or if its because as the baby girl of six, and because I wanted to have a party, my mother succumbed to my wishes.

Because I remembered my mother always making me feel very special on my birthday, I did the same for my children. It was easier for me because I only had two, but I have always striven to make their birthdays very special.  The older they get, the tougher it is, but I never fail to try.  When they were little, we had huge parties with bounce houses, and characters, pinata's, and games.  Lots of food and extravagant homemade designed cakes like Elmo and Scooby-Doo.  The party's for the kids lasted all day.  As they got older they became slumber parties, pizza parties, video game parties, BBQ's.  As young adults they have become a favorite homemade dinner with friends, dinners out at a favorite restaurant, and occasional BBQ's.

But no matter the age, I always work to make sure it is special and they always know that the best two days of my life were the days that each of them were born.