One day I will learn not to compare my two children. Likely that day will come when they want to compare each other and I have to tell them that they can't because they are two different children. Until then I will not practice what I preach.
It seems so odd to me that with first children things are just so, well, first. We were in a hurry for Hayley to do everything- roll over, walk, talk, everything. And with Sam- not so much. I want her to stay "baby" just as long as possible, especially since she is our last.
With Hayley I started planning her first birthday party like four months in advance. My mother in law and I handmade seventy birthday invitations. It was all done up in a princess theme and she had a birthday cake to die for. I meticulously planned every single detail and obsessed over it for weeks before the big day. On her actual birthday party day I was a little disappointed that she wasn't totally into opening presents and mostly the gifts were shredded by other kids attending the party. I tried to have someone keep a list for me to write thank you notes and still I wound up afterward with a few gifts that I had no idea where they came from. A few people got very generic thank you notes as in, "thank you for the gift, Hayley is going to have so much fun with it!". Overall the party was fun but I can't remember what I spent so much time planning?
With Sam? Well, we have been so consumed by our housing situation I have done none of that. Also not to mention that my sister and her partner's baby will also be one just two days after Sam. Originally we were planning to do parties on separate weekends and then we decided to do it all as one big party. So knowing that it is their baby's first birthday and remembering how much effort goes into a first birthday I have been content to sit back and let them do the agonizing.
Not because I don't care as much about Sam (I DO!) or because I don't care about planning (I DO!) but because I remember that much like a wedding, the day just goes too fast to stress over the smallest details like how many varieties of chips to offer with the sandwiches for lunch. I look back on photos of my first birthday and the only photos that even mattered were of me wearing my cake.
So as of right now my big plan for Sam's birthday is to worry about her own personal cake. Where to buy it, what kind to get, and what it will look like. In my opinion, as long as we have a bouncy house for the kids, food, and our friends attending then the party will be just fine. If you are planning a first birthday by all means, stress all you need to. Get it out of your system. The party will be fine. The kid won't even remember it. The photos are what count (as my sister told me last night) so just have fun!
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