The summer brings freedom, sunshine and quite honestly, lots of BIRTHDAYS. Birthdays are a big deal, and I like to take the opportunity to make each one of my girls feel special by celebrating them. Being broke, and not being able to do something special for my girls, is bumming me out. Because it's kinda, my fault. I've been sicker than usual, (see my post "Follow at Your Own Risk" to learn more about that) and unable to work as much as I used to. We rely on The Husband's income, to pay the mortgage and all of the bills. Which, thank God, just about covers it. But we rely on my income, (however small) for all of the extras. Like Birthdays.
Turning double digits is a huge deal, so when Faith turned 10 last year, we went all out. (See my post titled "Best Day Ever" to read about it) This July, Faith is turning 11. We are still going to celebrate, but it obviously won't be as extravagent as what we did for her, last year. That's not what's upsetting me so much. It's because this year, it's Farrah's turn! She will turn ten in August. I want so badly to do something super special for her, like we did for Faith, but it's just not possible. And I really don't want her to feel ripped off. She's a middle child. Any of you that have a middle child, will understand the far-reaching repurcussions of this.
I know there are much more important things to give my kids, other than the material, but it sure doesn't help when you know it's all your fault, you can't provide something. So, here I sit, busted and disgusted with myself.
Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Or any ideas on how to throw a fabulous B-day party....on a very non-fab budget :(
*hugs tight*
ReplyDeleteIt is NOT your fault. You can't help being ill. <3
As for organising parties on a budget - Google is your friend! There is sure to be something useful online somewhere! :D
T/Y Kyra. I didn't start Google searching yet, but I will.
DeleteI can't help but feel this is my fault. I get so frustrated sometimes, not being able to do more. Ugh! Just whine-o-rama over here..but tomorrow's a new day, and by then I might be feeling better, and I won't be so whiney anymore. *fingers crossed* Hugs always help, so thanks! :)
*sends more hugs* I hope you are feeling a little better now. I hate to think of you feeling sad!
DeleteWhen you get a chance, please could you email me: kyralennon (at) gmail (dot) com. Thanks! <3
My daughter likes the show "Chopped" on Food Network, and last year we did a Chopped themed birthday party. She and her friends were given three random foods and had to come up with a dish using them and whatever else we had in our pantry. They made an appetizer, main course, and dessert. And then of course they can eat it too. You could even have kids bring over an "ingredient" to share to make it...interesting. And cheaper.
ReplyDeleteAlso last year we did a "Minute to Win it" party for my son. If you google games for a birthday party with that theme, ALL of the games can be put together just with what you have around the house and they loved that one too.
Or do pedicures with homemade sugar foot scrub and painting toes and watch a movie.
Okay, I have tons of ideas so ask away. Also, I'm all too familiar with the short on cash situation, so I feel your pain. I'm sure it will end up fantastic!
Thank you so much Ilima- these are all great ideas! Especially the Chopped, b/c my Faith is a Foodie! So the food party would really be right up her alley. (Check out her blog when you get a chance, it's called Faith's A Foodie).
DeleteThanks for the encouragement! I really needed it today.
Get the whole family and her friends involved. Do her birthday in such a way everyone contributes a little. And yeah, Google some ideas.
ReplyDeleteHi Alex- thanks. I know my family would volunteer to fund the entire party, but I'm not comfortable with them doing that. I will, however, be hitting up both Grandmas for some of the kids fav dishes.
DeleteOn my side, the girls love my mom's awesome Italian food, on The Husband's, my MIL is from the South, so the girls go crazy for her Chicken/Ribs. (And all things Southern Fried..she is an amazing cook.) We are never in want of good food around here, that's for sure. :)
One year I wanted to do a midnight showing of "Night of the Living Dead" for my husband's birthday. (It's his favorite movie.) They ended up doing it basically for free. Instead of doing a private show they opened it up to the public. It cost us $1 a ticket. Now, not all theaters would do this, but it's worth checking out! It would depend a lot on what her favorite movie is, too. Different movies cost more for the theater to get.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if she'd be into something like letterboxing, but that's basically free and a lot of fun.
If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. :) In the meantime, take care. I'm sure your daughter will understand.
Rachel, that is so cool! My brother-in-law would loose his mind. He is a die-hard zombie fan. I would love to see if our movie theatre would do that for us/him. That's amazing! What a great idea. And, thanks for the encouragement. :)
DeleteIs this a whiny club? Can I be president? (I had the worst day. The WORST!)
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. I hope you come up with something because it's practically impossible to explain to a child that money is the reason a sibling's 10th birthday party was so much better than her own. Hugs and best of luck!!!!!!
Welcome to the Bird's Nest, a/k/a Whine-a-holics Anonymous!
DeleteI'm so sorry you had such a bad day. I know when I'm feeling better, I don't usually whine as much. It's hard when you suffer from health issues, (I know you do to) not to get down on myself for my limitations. But I will, as always, do my best, because the show must go on! There are a lot of awesome suggestions here, I am sure I will be able to pull something off. *Hugs*
I remember one of my favorite birthday parties I went to as a kid was pretty simple. They did this awesome, girly scavenger hunt, with cheap little prizes like nail polish and kid-style make-up. And you can't beat a sleepover for little girls. Buy some cheap pizza and they'll be thrilled. At the party I went to, instead of cake, they did an ice cream sundae bar, which was a HUGE hit, because they let us put whatever toppings on it we wanted!
ReplyDeleteOoh, that's such a cute idea! I always thought it would be fun to do a picture scavenger hunt with kids that age. You could give them a digital camera and they have to take pictures of themselves with whatever they're looking for. :)
DeleteAnd if she's into cooking/baking you could do cupcakes instead of a sundae bar. They could help bake them and put things in the batter as well as decorating the cupcake once it's out. We recently put reese's pb cups in chocolate cupcakes and they were awesome! :)
Kianwi- OMG thank you, that is a fabulous idea! My kids would love to go on a scavenger hunt. I was already thinking of doing a sleep-over with a couple of the girls BFF's, so that would fit perfectly. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
DeleteAnd Rachel- thanks to you too!
Oh, yay! I'm glad you liked the idea. I just think it is the perfect thing for that age-group. I like the cupcake idea, too!
DeleteSorry to hear this. :( Wish I had some ideas to share, but I don't.
ReplyDeleteI did, however, leave something on my blog for you. :D
I'm done whining about it. All the ideas that were suggested to me above, were great. The girls LOVED the idea about doing a scavenger hunt, and a Master Chef type of cook off. As well as the sleep-over with pedicures/manicures. (I'm tired already just writing this) They were game for anything. It's just me, who puts so much pressure on myself to make everything perfect all the time. Ugh.
DeleteThanks so much for the award! Will post about that in the near future.
*Hugs* I know I'm a little late to the comments party, but it looks like there were some awesome ideas from your other commenters. We've done "make your own pizza" parties here before, and Target has the cutest fairly inexpensive favors right now (though, for 10 year olds, they'd probably appreciate something like e.l.f. eyeshadow or something, right?)
ReplyDeleteI hope you're feeling better!