Organising a child’s birthday party can be a stressful undertaking at the best of times but throw in lockdown or social distancing to the melee and as a parent, it may seem like an impossible feat. How can you make a children’s party without friends and family fun??
Technology has given us so many ways to communicate with the people we love, from Zoom to Google Rooms and everything in between. Social media is also full of photos and videos of birthday “drive-bys”; asking the people your friends and family to drive by your house at a certain time to show the birthday love. Keeping in touch and sharing with people has never been easier.
But if COVID-19 has taught me anything, it’s the wonder of what we have in the here and now. Whereas before I would have been thinking of themes, amazing décor, food, games, and entertainment ahead of a birthday party, maybe for this year we think about simplifying our children’s party to what every celebration is essentially about, love. Whatever your family dynamic, celebrating a child’s birthday is really just about showing them how much they are loved and how much their birth means to you. This doesn’t always have to be done with parties full of friends, family, balloons, and toys, it can be done with a picnic in your back garden or on your balcony, a day of movies and popcorn in your living room, creating a restaurant in your home and becoming a waiter or chef for the evening to create you little (or bigger!) one’s favourite meal, a football or golf tournament in your back garden, an assault course around your home; the possibilities really are endless!
There are many ways to include friends and family beyond video calls and drive-bys. Why not ask them to create something for your child, it doesn’t have to be a work of art or massively creative, it really is about the thought! As an adult 2020 is unlikely to be a year that many of us are going to forget but chronicling the year for your child with pictures, letters, a poem or story from their family and friends would be a great way to create positivity and love around what may have been a very unsettling time for them. Maybe consider a similar approach with gifts, think of encouraging anyone who may want to give your child something to buy a voucher for a local business thereby supporting them when they are able to reopen, a cookery, sewing or woodwork lesson with a gran, aunt or uncle when we are able to be close to each other again, planting a tree in your little one’s name, again there are so many possibilities away from the mass-produced plastic toys we have all fallen into the habit of giving.
We all know that the situation we find ourselves in at the moment will not last. We will once again be able to plan and arrange wonderful parties for our children and share these moments with friends and family but lockdown and social distancing has forced us all to be still and hopefully to take stock. Our planet is letting us know that we cannot continue as we have been, that we all in our own ways need to make changes to our lives and maybe we can start making these changes with our children.
