First off, Happy Anniversary to my cousins Andy & Coni. 3 yrs for them today. By today’s standards, that’s a milestone. Congrats!
It was a very humdrum kind of day. I didn’t go out (big surprise there). I did have a great chat today. We covered all sorts of topics in that convo. One thing I will say here is that we were wondering why sex, often (but not always) when shown on tv and spelled out in books, is portrayed as a neat & tidy and very meaningless chore?
Off the sex topic, I will segue into something else. I went to a child’s first birthday party this past weekend. Enough people were invited, thanks to the ease of Facebook invites. Though I had to wonder, and legitimately so, if the child’s parents actually knew all the people they were inviting. I mean, because they just blitzed their friends lists, out of towners were even casually invited. They rented out a room at a community sports arena for this party.
To be honest, however, a good part of me was wondering how much of this was actually for the kid. Did the child say to its parents “hey, throw me a bash and invite everyone you ‘kinda know of’ online?” Did the parents stop to think about how their child won’t ever remember this and that this event would really come across as a show for themselves? There were people at the party who had never met the birthday baby before. Almost like a social. Oh, and it was listed at a 5 hour event. I’ve been to shorter weddings… And, again on the honesty train, the party wasn’t all that. I wasn’t too impressed to be walking into a 1 yr old’s birthday party with the song “Sexual Healing” blasting through their speaker system. There were a gazillion presents, which seemed kinda overkill at the time. The food was cold and the selection was minimal. The room wasn’t the cleanest and this party really seemed to be more about the adults and not so much about the kids.
Don’t get me wrong–I think a child’s birthday should be celebrated. That first year can be quite a big one and deserves to be celebrated. However, I also think that when the party is for your child, then that should be evident. Invite people who mean something to your child’s life. No need to go overboard. If you want to have a party for yourself, then have a separate party. It’s shouldn’t be about the material presents or bragging rights because x number of people showed up at your event. Someone described the event interestingly…it seemed to be overcompensation for the circumstances of that family’s life.
I just let that experience be a learning one for myself. As a mother, when I claim to be doing something for Jamayia, then it should be about her. Small events are okay. Big events are fine too, when it’s not a waste…