Birthday

My daughter's birthday is in the summer, so we planned a simple "play date lunch" in the park or a back yard. We did cupcakes and happy meals for lunch and the kids played on the playground or ran through the sprinklers (when we used a back yard). Was inexpensive and low stress, and the kids had a great time.

My oldest is 3, & we also live in an apt. For his 2nd & 3rd birthdays we just invited a couple families over w/kids his age. We did it on a Sat. morn- simple brunch w/cupcakes for dessert. We just had the food out & people helped themselves & sat wherever. It took pressure off & made it fun for everyone... the kids played w/each other & their dollar store toys, & the adults got to hang out & chat, too.

I agree, keep it simple so everyone can have fun (including you). Great resource: http://www.birthdayswithoutstress.com/

My oldest is 2. For both his parties we did immediate family only (grandparents, aunts/Uncles, cousins, great granparents if you are close to them too.

For our sons 1st party we did a late afternoon party (after nap) the plan was just desert, but company stayed so late, we ordered Pizza's.

For his second birthdy we did an early afternoon party because we combined it with his younger brothers baptism. he got crabby, because he missed his nap, so I definately will make the next birthday party after his nap.

The second party we did lunch and desert. For the lunch I went to the Sarah lee outlet and bought bread. Then I went and bought meat and cheese from the store. I made a tortillini salad and had some jello. It went pretty good.

I think the next party I have will be late in the afternoon and we'll do cake and Icecream and a simple dinner like described above.

I have 3 kids - ages 13, 11, and 4; and I live with another family who has an 11 year old daughter.

That being said? Keep it simple! :) I wouldn't do something like Chuck E. Cheese yet. The rides and games aren't really appropriate for a 2 year old, thus they won't have as much fun, the kids will get bored and ansty faster...it is easier to have it at home, at the Y in the community room or at some other community room type area.

For us, since we don't have a lot of family in the area, birthdays are a time for our close friends to get together since they share as much in the joys of our kids growing up as we do. The kids have a blast playing with each other, the grown ups chit chat, and voila - stress free party :) As the kids get older, more effort and planning goes into the party - but for the under 5 crew? It's more of an excuse for another gathering, but this time with cake and presents!

As far as whether or not your son would remember his 2nd birthday? Don't underestimate him. My 4 year old just surprised me last night with a gem of a memory from when he was under 2...and my 13 year old still remembers events from when she was under 3-4. The less stress you put on yourself, though, the more fun *he* will have - and *that's* what will make it a good birthday party.

Do something very simple and stress-free, because he isn't going to remember it. Just a few family and friends for cake and ice cream would be fine so you'll have your pictures but you won't have the stress of prepping and cleaning up after a huge party. For both of my kids, birthdays 1 and 2 were at their grandparents house. It seemed to make my mother-in-law happy to have it there, and then I didn't have to clean up my house for a party. The grandparents have a larger house more centrally located, so it was more convenient for everyone too.

In fact, this may be a rather controversial suggestion, but maybe for his birthday, after cake and ice cream, you should have someone watch him for you so you can do something fun for you. I have two kids (almost 5 and 2.5). I can imagine how difficult it must be for you at times to be a single mom with a young child. As he gets older, he's going to have very strong opinions on what he wants for his birthday party and you can go all out for him then.

Whatever you do, just keep it happy and you and Tyler will have fun, even if he doesn't remember it.

Building the tradition of fun and memorable birthday parties can be a cool way to convince our kids of how special they are. The thing is - two year olds will never remember their birthday party. What we do for them can really more about us than about them. So my advice is: Keep it simple, and include only a few of the most special people in your life.

As parents of older children, who worked hard on cool birthday parties when the children were young, We regret making such a huge deal when they were little, because every year they seemed to have higher expectations. It got more expensive and more stressful, but wanting to be "good parents", we kept trying to outdo ourselves. When we realized how out of hand it weas getting, we sat the kids down and said, from now on, we will focus only on special and intimate experiences with family (extended) for your birthdays. Anything else you want to do is up to you. This has proven to be much more special to the kids, and far less work and money. Wish we'd started when they were two.

See: http://birthdayswithoutpressure.org/question.html

I'd do Chuckie Cheese it will cost about the same as throwing it at home and it's alot more fun and no mess to clean up.

Seriously won't cost you anymore, look at their birthday packages and look at just going and ordering pizza, buying tokens and bringing your own cake.

At home it seems like it's cheaper but it adds up fast, decorations, goodie bags, games, food, cake, paper/plastic ware it really adds up and cleaning before and after is a pain.

My son's second birthday is in a couple of months also. We are going to just have it at our place (an apt. in eagan) and invite close friends and family. We'll probably order pizza and have cake and ice cream. Nothing extravagant because he won't remember anyways. For his first birthday we had a huge party for him at a hotel. It was fun but nobody swam and we didn't even have the party in the hotel room. It was in a lobby thing. I wouldn't waste money like that again until he can remember. Good Luck!