With no sign of traffic, I share a worried look with my daughter and blame myself for going out late at night to shop. Little Missy seems to be doing well despite having homework at her house after a long day at school. And why not! She is just a few days away from her 11th birthday. The adrenaline rush is high enough that she leaps from one store to another, approving or disapproving of my selection of trinkets for the big day.
Hosting a birthday party is no mean feat these days. Who knew that what started ten years ago as a dedicated effort to create a magical first birthday celebration for my little one would turn into a challenging and stress-inducing mission. Is not it.
On her first birthday, the party hall was transformed into a fairyland with giant cutouts of Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White for a grand celebration.
The next few birthdays were a quiet affair with a large family until she entered kindergarten, and an entire army of energetic dwarfs who had studied with her were invited.
For her fifth time, she risked life and limb loss trying to keep sight of all the children as they ran around in a soft play center.
Over the next few years, magicians, tattoo artists and nail art pros with a few tricks up their sleeves and inflatable tent houses to create their dream houses.
After another few years, I stopped outsourcing and thought I had made a substantial contribution to the party planning industry. So, having been bitten by the DIY bug, I knew I would have to run around the party like a headless chicken trying to control the overzealous kids, but my game fixed skills decided to test
Lilliputian was now grown to be a pre-tween and couldn’t be expected to sit quietly and ponder life at the party. Creative games had to be designed to keep users engaged. To do that, I spent hours on Pinterest looking for ideas and creating the necessary props. She also had her husband repeatedly call the vendor to ensure the customized return gift was delivered on time.
After that, I was ready to quit The League of Naturally Artistic and Unflustered Parents, which made the party host look like a cakewalk, but still a ridiculous effort to make every party better than before. I didn’t stop doing
A week before her sixth birthday, one of her classmate’s mothers, a boutique owner, promised to design the best evening dress for her. Shortly after our conversation, I rushed to her boutique to fantasize about the perfect outfit to complement the décor I had in mind when I suddenly found the streets eerily quiet. A curfew was to be enforced within an hour because I threatened to turn around. Still, I set out on this reckless expedition.
This year’s 11th edition aims to recreate the charm of childhood parties at home with simple menus, games and treasure hunts as the main attraction.
In a few more years I hope soon she will be an arrogant teenager, organizing her own private parties and not wanting adults or their party hosting skills! rupymand@gmail.com
The writer is a freelance contributor based in Jalandhar
