Birthday party at home? I have a plan for my kid!
Birthday means celebration, food, gifts, and most importantly, a much-coveted get together of friends and peers. Especially, when it is the birthday of your only child, every parent plans in their heads. Never did I think that I would have to celebrate my child’s birthday while being under lockdown. I was planning for it for some time. For her first birthday, me and my husband celebrated with family members. But since my baby is growing up, she understands what birthday means. Birthday cakes are her most favorite and she simply loves the ‘happy birthday’ song. So we decided that we would celebrate this birthday quite grandly with a lot of babies from our friends and families. Eventually, circumstances made us celebrate it at home. However, we still managed to have a fun day at home which eventually made my little baby very happy.
I made a list of the guests for the birthday party long ago. As none of them could come we thought if we could connect them virtually. So we asked our guests to send us a nice birthday wish for our baby. All of them responded very spontaneously and we had some nice video wishes. I downloaded all of them and made a short video to show it to my child. I knew she would be very happy watching her uncles, aunts, and friends.
As the day neared, we started to plan for decorations. We found that there were a lot of DIY birthday decorations available online. First, we found that there are lots of old newspapers at our home. We thought that why not give it a try? So we did a google and found a number of newspaper-based home decor ideas. I can mention a particular idea where we made a paper fairy house from newspapers. My baby liked it a lot. So we did not need to buy balloons, streamers from outside. Also, we opted for a homemade cake this time. My child also ate it with a lot of interest so I guess it was not that bad! I also cooked the other things at home. My baby likes sweets a lot, so I prepared some of her favorite sweets.
Then we thought about buying something for my kid. She had lots of toys, so this year we planned differently. We made a handmade birthday card for her. I know, she could not value it at this age, but when she would grow up it would be a pleasant memory for her. And we planned to give some of the money for the birthday party to a charity this time. I know, this is a hard time for everyone in the world, so we tried to contribute a little on the most auspicious day.
As the day came, we started to decorate the house. My baby was very excited and frequently asked when we would cut the cake. Then before cutting the cake we showed her the birthday wish video. We were missing some of our family members so much that we asked them to wish a virtual happy birthday to my daughter in a video conference. When everyone said happy birthday and made a clap, my baby cut the cake. We arranged some of her favorite tunes in the speaker and made a ‘happy birthday’ vibe at home. We took a lot of snaps and selfies. And after a hectic day, my husband and I felt so accomplished. After all, we could make the whole time so enjoyable for our baby. What can be more satisfying than this to a parent?