Garden Party

For Franny, this was the year that birthdays changed. After being at two very fun destination birthday parties, she began to ask When is my birthday? and say I want to go to my birthday! Needless to say, I wanted her birthday to live up to all that wonderful toddler excitement and anticipation, which is difficult to really gauge with an almost-three-year-old. For a number of reasons, I opted for a garden party at home with her playgroup. I wanted her day to be wonderful from beginning to end. So, when she came downstairs the morning of her birthday, the house was covered in a garden of flowers, bugs, and butterflies. Her friends arrived a few hours later and we had games, cake, and lots of fun. My only complaint was that with all the chaos of the party, I wasn't able to really enjoy seeing Franny having fun on her birthday. In my planning, I know I underestimated Franny. For her, a special party wasn't about an exciting destination or having everything just perfect or over the top. It was about having one special day just for her and having fun. Fortunately, when all was said and done, that's exactly what she had.