Party fatigue

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So it's birthday season at my place.  We have birthday parties every second year and this weekend I'm up to #3 party for the year.

I know I'm supposed to be really good at parties and love them because I'm a mum.  Except here's a little secret I'm sharing with you.  I'm a bit over the whole thing.

This will be party #22 we've put on for our kids.  And this is actually only the beginning.  Our oldest is not even a teenager.

Fundamentally it is because I'm selfish and I just need to stop being selfish, but here's why I'm weary.

I'm not good at cakes - my son's four year old cake was a plane but in reality looked like a prop from the set of the TV show 'Lost'.  The plane sunk in weird places and looked like it had crash landed.  I feel the cake pressure because my mum always did great cakes (and whether that is true or not I don't know - it's what I remember).  I can do OKish cakes but I do feel a bit embarrassed by my efforts (the pink cricket ball that went with the cricket bat - I had to explain that the ball was a cricket ball - if you have to explain what the cake is I don't think it is a success!)

I'm not a very particular person.  I'm a bit haphazard.  So our parties are pretty simple.  Here's the food.  Here's some games.  I do the food.  Rowan does the games (sometimes cracks out the guitar for live music).  I don't stress out preparing for it weeks before.  I usually shop and work it out on the day.  I feel like a party organiser fraud!

Some anxiety comes from families who have never been to our house coming to 'check us out'.  'How truly crazy are these people with the 5 kids?',  they think as they approach the front door.

And my ultimate nervousness is 'will the kids come, get bored, and just run around like crazy things'.

However, nothing terrible has ever happened and we've survived so far.  Roll on Saturday night (when I can collapse!).

PS  Guess who had their eyes shut for the photo with the cake on their 8th birthday?

Comments

Gina said…
I think you should embrace being a 'relaxed' party planner. It sets a good example rather than a 'keeping up with the joneses' feel - might help those who visit tone down their own over-themed events! Buy a cake if you don't love making them yourself. Or take a leaf from Masterchef and get the kids to decorate their own cupcakes - brilliant. I think I'll be stealing that idea for the next, oh, 18 years.
June 11, 2010 at 7:59 AM
Jenny said…
Thanks for the encouragement Gina. I'm trying to remember that my kids are just excited to have their friends over and have party food. They probably won't remember much more than that in the long run!
June 11, 2010 at 10:07 AM
Rodney Olsen said…
We've got a bunch of girls heading our way tomorrow for our daughter's 14th. SEND HELP!!
June 11, 2010 at 12:01 PM
Karen said…
I remember that cake from your 8th birthday - can't believe Mum managed to pull that off, especially considering that she had to cook the cake in a box oven!
June 11, 2010 at 4:56 PM
Motherhugger said…
Your parties are cracking! Just the way they all would be in my ideal world.

I've never made a shaped cake in my life. All round or rectangular at our parties. Other things I can do, but our cakes just look like, well, cake.
June 13, 2010 at 5:15 PM
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