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041Baby columnist Odette Parfitt celebrates her son’s first birthday and shares her top tips on how to host a low-key 1st birthday party.

I recently transitioned to being a toddler mom, and with my son’s first birthday I set myself one rule:
I did not want to go overboard to celebrate a birthday he wouldn’t even remember.

Full disclosure: I probably still went further than I needed to – but I’m chalking that up as a lesson for
next year.

So, what we did. A friend of mine told me a few months ago that the first birthday is really a
celebration for the parents – a sort of yay-we-kept-a-human-alive-for-a-year moment – than it is for
the baby. With that in mind, we opted for a casual braai that happened to have some children,
rather than a full-out kiddies party. We invited a small group of friends and family to our house, and
we ordered a cake.

Lessons from hosting a low-key 1st birthday party:

• You don’t have to spend a lot on a fancy cake. Cakes have gotten so much more sophisticated, but honestly, if it’s not a kiddie’s party, it doesn’t have to look like a kiddie’s cake.
• You don’t need a theme. Again, not a kiddies party. We chose an idea we liked for the cake and a colour scheme for the balloons and paper plates, but that is as far as it went. There is no need to go all out on décor either.
• Paper plates are super helpful if not environmentally the best option, but also I did not have enough crockery and cutlery for the number of guests we had, and I really didn’t relish
  the idea of having to do dishes after hosting.
• It’s OK to plan around your child’s schedule. I made the mistake of holding off on the cake
  and singing Happy Birthday because we couldn’t possibly have dessert before the main
  meal…and then most people went home before my son woke from his nap for cake. Have
  dessert whenever you want.
• Take lots of photos. We were so busy hosting and making sure everyone was happy that we
  only had a couple of photos to show for the day. Next time I am inclined to spend more
  time taking photos of my child and to let other people fend for themselves.

That being said, next year might be even more low-key – hosting is hard work and I am personally
grateful birthdays only happen once a year.

How did you celebrate your child’s first birthday?