birthday blunder? : by amy

Logan turned two a few weeks ago, but we had a family birthday party for him much earlier since the husband was going to be out of town on Logan's actual birthday (boo!).  I made a big 'ol cake, made some bo-ssam (Korean-style boiled pork lettuce wraps), and had all of our family members over to shower Logan with birthday love. 

Magnolia's vanilla cake recipe with rainbow chip icing

the happy 2 year old! 

family!

Logan loved the attention, blowing out the candles, licking off the frosting of the cake, and REALLY loved his birthday gift from Aunt Jean-- the buckle backpack!

He got some other fun gifts, like play doh, "non-messy" finger paint (Crayola is really amazing), a wooden choo-choo train, $100 (...which dad borrowed for his Chicago trip...), but none of these gifts could surpass the awesomeness of the buckle backpack! 

providing toddlers with focused, buckling fun!

So, at school (day care), kids have small birthday parties even for two-year olds.  The teacher told me not to bring in cupcakes because they're too big-- she said munchkins or veggie stix go over pretty well.  Some kids' parents prepare goodie bags too (usually with junk that goes straight into the garbage).  Some memorable ones that Logan received included cereal bars, (or some other type of parent-approved treat), a small pack of crayons, and a Thomas the Train whistle (which he loves blowing).  These are all very usable and practical "goodies" for two-year olds.  So, I wanted to prepare something small to celebrate Logan's birthday too, but something simple and practical.  I made little goodie bags that included small cups filled with animal cookies (from Wegmans, of course...and organic).

I also brought in a box of munchkins that the kids could have during their afternoon snack.  Simple, right?  I mean, the kid is turning two and probably isn't worried about peer pressure or having "cool stuff" for his birthday just yet.  I also didn't plan on being there to distribute the afternoon snack because...I just didn't think he would care if I came or not.  I'm not even sure if he would understand what the munchkins were for (it was his first time having a munchkin).  And we had a huge birthday party for him at home which obviously was more significant than this afternoon-snack party at school.  I don't think other full-time working moms come to their two-year old's afternoon-snack birthday parties...or do they?

So, I've got the school video streaming on my desktop while at work to watch them celebrate Logan's birthday.  I remembered it was another girl's birthday too-- same day as Logan's.  And the teachers told me her mom was bringing fruit and some type of small cake.  Well, the kid's ENTIRE FAMILY came to the classroom for the afternoon-snack-birthday party!  The mom walked in with a ginormous craft-bin filled with what turned out to be goodie bags filled with...stuff that's going straight into my garbage (I'm not being mean-- I'm being real.  See items below).

What does a 2-year old do with "mouska-bucks"?  I don't give my toddler Tootsie roll pops, gummy snacks or chocolate gold coins.  And he's not skilled enough to play with a mini maze and will probably eat the rubber blue ball.

Then she whipped out this huge roll cake with candles.  The dad was taking pictures like the papparazzi.  Suddenly, Logan's simple munchkin party was overshadowed by this hoopla of a birthday party.  A part of me was like "um...was I supposed to do this too??"  Was I supposed to drop everything and come to my son's 2-year old birthday "party" at day care with all the bells and whistles?  I mean, I can understand turning 3 and older-- kids are much more aware of what birthday parties are, but my kid just learned how to say "birthday" a week ago, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't really understand what a birthday is.  But, I shouldn't hate.  It was sweet that her family took the time off to celebrate the occasion.  Next year, I will go to his school for his 3rd birthday party and will bring in the works!  (but my goodie bag is still going to be simple and practical!)

Logan ended up having three birthday parties anyway.  One with the entire family, one at school, and another mini-party with my in-laws and me while the husband was out of town on Logan's actual birthday.  Here's footage from the third party: