On May 1, Tyson turned one. I never thought that I would be the kind of person to have a first birthday party. The child won’t remember it, so what’s the point?
Then I realised something. We didn’t celebrate his actual birth with a party, and that was something we’d waited over five years for! So, why not celebrate surviving a year as parents?
Luke and I talked about the party for months. We originally had a list of about 60 people we wanted to invite. On further thought, that looked a bit too extravagant. So, we re-thought it. We thought of a party at a park. Then at a play centre. Then at a hall. Then in the backyard. This was proving much tougher than we originally thought. In fact, I think we agreed on plans for our wedding easier than this!
Then we organised a family trip to Tasmania on Saturday May 1 (Tyson’s actual birthday), which left us to have the party on the Sunday. And, being away the day before meant we had to make it as simple to setup as possible.
Based on this, we developed a plan.
Not only had we not had a party for Tyson, but we also hadn’t had a dedication at church. So, our decision was to combine the two.
A dedication is where we as parents acknowledge and commit to raising Tyson with the values we live by as people of faith and the church prays for us as parents and for Tyson’s future. It’s a very simple ceremony – barely a ceremony. But it is a lovely event to share with friends and family.
This was going to be phase one of Tyson’s first birthday.
Phase two would be a simple lunch back at our place that we would have catered by a local sandwich shop. Hard to believe that after all the to-ing and fro-ing, it was all going to be this simple.
I decided to make cupcakes for the birthday cake. Being away the day before meant that I would have to make these the morning of the party before church, which starts at 9.30am.
Well, in hindsight, just one big cake would have been the more sensible decision. Making the cakes was no big deal. Icing them all was another story! For some odd reason, I decided to do two colours of icing. Why would I do that?!!!
In the end, it all fell into place.
We arrived at church barely on time. Not all of our guests could make it there, but we were pleased that some had been able to come along.
As we dedicated Tyson, it was so lovely to have Luke’s sister and her family and our good friends, Clayton & Mandy, stand with us in support of us as parents and of Tyson.
We didn’t hang around too long after church before heading home ready for the party. We had invited only a few friends and family to be there. Most of our family live in another state and were unable to come down, which was a shame. However, we celebrated with them a little later. Yes, another adventure I’ll write about soon.
Tyson was in good form as he explored his presents, delighted in the presence of so many people around him, took people’s food (that’s my boy!), and played with the other children who came.
All in all, having a first birthday party proved to be a really positive experience. I’ve learnt a few things that will hold me in good stead when we face the inevitable future birthday parties. And, we enjoyed a special afternoon with a fabulous group of people.
First birthday parties? Definitely an adventure!
