Welcome, dear parents!
Time is going fast. Marusya will be 2 years old in a few days. It seems that quite recently I was preparing for the celebration of her first birthday. I was having too match ideas. I was searching through millions of ideas, looking for the best one. I spent a lot of time and effort trying to find the perfect thing that Marusya would remember from her first birthday.
Open Air Party
I was thinking long and seriously about celebrating her first birthday in the yard of our house. I liked the idea of a party in the open air with children as in America. I was going send to each guest stylized invitations with balls, bows and bears. I wanted to invite cheerful clowns that performed with bubbles. Also I wanted to prepare tasty food, drinks and small souvenirs for little guests, decorate the entrance into our house and our floor with garlands and balloons.
But I came to realize that option doesn’t suit us. At first, I didn’t consider factors like season: Marusya was born in October and the weather isn’t predictable. Sun and rain change too frequently. Secondly, we don’t have enough open space to adapt for a children’s party. Cars are parked everywhere on our yard. Tiny playground with a rubber covering, swing, children slides, sandboxes are also located on our yard as on other yards in Moscow. Also I didn’t want to organize a party in the neighboring park: it approximately the same if I invited guests of my birthday party to other’s apartment. So the idea of a “Sumptuous feast” evaporated fast.
Theme Party with Relatives and Close Friends
My next idea was celebrating Marusya’s party in one of the children’s centers. We were going to invite to the party only our closest relatives and mothers with their kids. This idea seemed more practical in comparison with the previous. Because we would have celebrated holiday in a covered place, we didn’t have to worry about the weather.
I found on the Internet a very unusual club in Victorian style which organized many parties: from baby showers to bachelorette parties. On the one hand, I liked the format of a party in the spirit of English tea drinking, that would be interesting to all guests. I liked very much the idea to hire suits of that century. Guests would have been dressed as heroes of Bronte novels. We would have organized a photo-shoot in tremendous English scenery. But this idea had disadvantages too. At first, the cost of this party was too high. Secondly, I doubted that all guests would arrive on time because of unpredictable capital traffic. So, another idea was wrecked.
The Banquet
I didn’t want to give up on the idea to celebrate the birthday of my daughter in one of children’s clubs, but, I couldn’t find a suitable price on the Internet. Club in Victorian style with high price wouldn’t work. Then my husband suggested celebrating the party at a restaurant or cafe. We had some choice. All of them were near us and differed only in the cost of dishes on the banquet menu. We expected to rent all restaurant or non-smoking zone. Tables and nearest territory should be decorated with balloons. We wanted to celebrate joyfully such a significant event in the life of our family.
But, we had to refuse this idea too. Husband gave up at the stage of establishing the menu. What happened this time? We had had a dinner in one small restaurant three weeks before the event. Usually Marusya behaves quietly in public restaurants. But at this time, she was restless and wanted to jump out of the children’s chair. Then I understood, that our daughter had grown up. It is boring for her to sit in the same place for a long time. If that restaurant which we were chosen would have been a children’s room…If we were going to choose a restaurant it needed to have a children’s room.
Party at Home
At the very beginning of planning this party me and my husband refused the idea of organizing it at home. First of all our apartment is very small. Secondly, at that time we had finished some repairs. Kitchen still wasn’t equipped: nor oven, nor dishwasher. I couldn’t imagine how i would be able to prepare dishes for 12 people and look after the baby!
At the end me and my husband understood, that we could arrange a party at home or go without a party. Because of the small area we must have excluded from the list of guests everybody, except our parents, brothers, sisters and Marusya’s Godfathers. Because of lack of time for preparation of delicacies we decided to make a holiday in the “Tea Drinking at Marusya” format. We bought a magnificent pie for a party and one million different sweets for tea. We didn’t invite clowns because Marusya was only baby. We were entertaining our little princess at her first birthday.
