{"id":1730,"date":"2016-05-02T04:47:31","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T04:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daniellebinns.com\/stagingsite\/?p=1730"},"modified":"2016-05-02T17:29:59","modified_gmt":"2016-05-02T17:29:59","slug":"4-ways-simplify-kids-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daniellebinns.com\/stagingsite\/2016\/05\/4-ways-simplify-kids-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Birthday parties for kids: 4 ways I keep it simple"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kid’s birthday parties can get complicated quickly.\u00a0 This year I decided to simplify the party planning and save my sanity.<\/p>\n

After all, I have absolutely no recollection of what it was like to be one year old.\u00a0\u00a0 I don’t remember\u00a0my cake, whether there were balloons or a theme for my\u00a0first\u00a0birthday…nor the second or third.\u00a0 It dawned on me that\u00a0my girls won’t likely remember a thing either\u00a0(no matter how much fish oil I give them to boost their brain power).\u00a0\u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Two years ago, I went a little nutty trying to throw my sweet Sienna a\u00a0memorable first birthday.<\/p>\n

I ordered a super cute pennant banner from Etsy<\/a>…<\/p>\n

\"Sienna's<\/p>\n

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I had a chalkboard memory sign designed, and a custom-made\u00a0yellow tutu.<\/p>\n

\"Sienna's<\/p>\n

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Plus I spent a few hours trying<\/em> to master\u00a0paleo cupcakes that guests would actually<\/em> eat (then ended up hiring someone to make\u00a0them look pretty).<\/p>\n

\"Birthday<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And in the end,\u00a0her “You are my sunshine<\/em>” themed party came to life.
\n\"Sienna's<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Time to do it all over again!<\/p>\n

My second sweet daughter, Naomi, turns one next week and we just celebrated with\u00a0Keith’s family this weekend.\u00a0 I realized that pulling together an Instagram-worthy party wasn’t going be so easy with two kiddos vying for my attention.\u00a0 So I decided to try something different this year and KISS (keep it\u00a0simple silly).<\/p>\n

Here are 4 ways I\u00a0simplified birthday party planning for my kids:<\/p>\n

Two birthday girls.\u00a0One party.<\/h3>\n

Sienna and Naomi have birthdays within 6 weeks of each other.\u00a0 So, instead of throwing 4 separate parties (one with each family for each of the girls) we went with a joint celebration this year for each family.\u00a0\u00a0Smartest decision ever.\u00a0 It saved us a lot of headache, travelling, and of course, money.\u00a0\u00a0It also freed up a few weekends for our guests who I’m sure appreciated it.\u00a0 Until the girls\u00a0request\u00a0their own separate parties, the combined version works just fine right now. And makes mommy a little less crazy \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Reused &\u00a0recycled.<\/h3>\n

For Sienna’s party three years ago we had a few beautiful things created\/designed\/custom-made – and we never used them again.\u00a0 As much as I love spending time and money on Etsy<\/a>, I decided to dust off the “Happy Birthday” pennant banner\u00a0(glad I saved that) and put Naomi in a pretty tutu we already had kicking around in her closet.<\/p>\n

\"Naomi<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What we did recycle\u00a0was the chalkboard poster idea – it was too fun not too!\u00a0 We had one created for Naomi for a mere $15\u00a0because it was something special\u00a0we wanted for both kids to look back on as a keepsake.<\/p>\n

\"Birthday<\/p>\n

Let them eat cake.<\/h3>\n

Being a nutritionist and someone who is invested in my family’s health, I’ve felt compelled to invest in\u00a0‘healthier’ cakes over the past few years (gluten-free, dairy-free, coconut flour cake with coconut milk icing).\u00a0 The reality is that most of my family just wants to eat a traditional\u00a0birthday cake.\u00a0 So\u00a0I\u00a0took off my nutrition hat\u00a0and picked up a slab cake from Costco.\u00a0 The bonus:\u00a0it\u00a0fed everyone for $20 vs.\u00a0$60 we spent last year!.\u00a0 And for the girls\u00a0we grabbed Sweets from the Earth <\/a>cupcakes\u00a0which they only had a few licks of and then went\u00a0back to playing.<\/p>\n

\"Kid's<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Bring in the meal.<\/h3>\n

When I host a party, I like to keep things healthy by making my own recipes for guests to nosh\u00a0on.\u00a0 However<\/em>, with my new business going full-time recently and two kids to entertain and love, I knew a homemade dinner for 30 people was pushing the envelop.\u00a0\u00a0So\u00a0I admittedly\u00a0relinquished control of my meal\u00a0and went to\u00a0Costco.<\/p>\n

Even if the food wasn’t coming out of my kitchen I still wanted to keep things ‘clean’ (for the most part).\u00a0 I just didn’t want to break the bank in the process.\u00a0Costco has virtually\u00a0everything\u00a0I needed with a smaller price tag.<\/p>\n

We grabbed RW Garcia Gluten-free Beet Crackers<\/span><\/u><\/a> (they also have a Sweet Potato version<\/span><\/u><\/a>), Mary’s Crackers, guacamole, hummus, Wild Roots Kale & Chia chips<\/span><\/u><\/a>, organic turkey sausages, veggie and fruit platters, plus a plain pizza (to which I added a pile of grilled veggies).\u00a0\u00a0 Everyone ate happily even though it wasn’t homemade.<\/p>\n

\"opening<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

So I let go of the details…<\/span><\/h3>\n

It’s easy to get caught up in party planning and lose hours of your life to google.\u00a0 I know because I’ve done it.\u00a0 But the result (or at least the result that matters) is the same.<\/p>\n

I may\u00a0only get an “E” for Effort this year, but despite skimping on the details, my girls had the perfect party.<\/p>\n

One day soon, Sienna and Naomi will want the Frozen themed party (sorry daddy), a three tiered cake, and a jumpy castle in the backyard.\u00a0 There will be a time when I’ll need to pay attention to the details, but until then I am keeping it simple so I can spend less time stressing and more time doing the stuff that matters.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kid’s birthday parties can get complicated quickly.\u00a0 This year I decided to simplify the party planning and save my sanity. After all, I have absolutely no recollection of what it was like to be one year old.\u00a0\u00a0 I don’t remember\u00a0my cake, whether there were balloons or a theme for my\u00a0first\u00a0birthday…nor the second or third.\u00a0 It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[29,128],"tags":[148,150,51,149,6,152,151],"yoast_head":"\nBirthday parties for kids: 4 ways I keep it simple<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kid's birthday can get complicated quickly. 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