First birthday parties - TONS of questions

So, I'm very plain and simple, no fuss and bother.

I debated for AGES on whether to even have a party for the babies but then I figured - WE deserve a party to celebrate surviving the first year, or at very least, the newborn stage

I went to one of the party shops to have a look and the themes are all beautiful and make the party planning so easy BUT...

what do one-year-old kids know about themes or parties?

is there a point to having a theme?

what do you feed the kids?

I like the idea of a party venue but feel it's overkill for 1-year-olds? (also I have a bill from City of Jhb for R9881 so don't feel like I want to spend much)

I do know I want two cakes - any ideas???

Anything else I'm not considering???

we had a small party for Damion, and I just made him a special cake to mash his hands in and just make a mess with it.

The adults got snacks and there was chips, cakes, sweets and hotdogs for the kids, I just let them run wild and make a mess

Now see, Haze, the running wild is the part that gets me

Maybe I should limit the people with kids

I had 5 kids - and the rest were adults.

It was small but all the kids enjoyed themselves, for party packs, I used old formula tins - sprayed and decorated them (with no toxic paint) put in a colouring in book, crayons and some sweets!

All the other kids were older - ranging from 3 - 6.

YOU ARE SO CLEVER!

What a great idea for the formula tins! I seriously love that!

Do you have pics?

I had a pary in my honour for surviving the first year... and I am a single mother of three

I think that small is good, I believe that seperate cakes are a must and they need to each get happy birthday sung to them individually.

This year I combined my oldest's birthday with his two cousins, they each had their own cake, and we sang to each individual kid, it was fun!

Great, we're getting there,...


Another issue - they are a girl and boy, so nothing too girly or too boyish.

How about a disney theme? Or farm animals?

LOL see, Eve, I'm also fussy - I'm not too keen on anything popular (it puts me off )

they do both like frogs based on how they fight over the frog when in the bath!

So glad you started this thread. I have the exact same questions. Only have a month to prepare. Do not really want to do something huge, but must celebrate the survival of the first year. Love the tin idea Haze!

Hey Elaine, when were yours born?

Mine are 7 July!

Sjoe, that is close. Mine are 9 July!!!

We also had a 'we survived the first year' party! The twins were utterly unaware of what was going on. We had only one cake because a) they are freakin' expensive, and b) they didn't know about the cake anyway. We had a bit of a theme just to get into the spirit of things - we had Winnie - cake, and paper plates ect. Food - basically chips, marshmallows, cakes for the kids, and snack platters for the adults. The other important thing is to set a time limit - eg 10 to 12, because the kids get freaked out and need time to settle before supper and bed.

Thanks Paula.

I like the idea of end times - I do it already with any socials because my two are not the best sleepers in the world and overstimulation = crabbiness

Coach, there are b/g twins at the boys school and they did a pirate and princess theme, was uber cute... just an idea