1st birthday Party : Lesson Learned

March 7th, Gabriel turned 1! As excited as i was for the event, while planning i couldn't help but to become overwhelmed with emotion. My baby, was now moving to "toddlerhood" and no more was it depend on mommy for every little thing, now Gabe was become an individual.His party was a celebration for him and us for making it through our first year as parents.

We threw him a Superhero training camp 1st birthday party and despite the fact that we had so many no call no shows, the party was a huge success! A week before I believe God tried to prepare me for a possible upset if i didn't gain some much needed perspective. 

 I had a dream that we set up for Gabe's party and no one showed. I woke up and was so upset i woke my husband to share my experience. At that moment i realized that as freaked as i was about his party, i knew deep down that just mom and dad or a whole slew of friends, Gabe wouldn't care either way. So i went on planning, sending out invites and reminders and rested in the fact that no matter what happened the only thing that matter was Gabe's happiness and my husband being able to enjoy the party since he missed the baby shower (extenuating family circumstances).

The day of the party, only 4 out of the 16 invited came but Gabe, like i thought, cared less and it became a big baby play date with some of my husbands college football buddies and their little ones. Sitting back and watching them play and interact, made me scold myself for stressing myself out and not following Gabe's lead and keeping it simple. Honestly, i don't think i would have had the party go any other way; Family and a small group of friends.

So many times as parents because of what the media tells us we should be, we stress out about things that our kids wouldn't pay a passing glance. We lose focus of what really matters and the true reason why we are celebrating; that day it was shown and reinforced as the small people walked/crawled across the floor for hours forgetting about nap times. We even had beer and PLENTY of food for the parents, and you could see the faces across the room of everyone enjoying the same thing; their child having a blast and promise of a good nap..lol

I was asked was i upset at the turn out, and definitely not because i learned a big lesson in acceptance, flexibility, and focus on things that matter. Only thing i regret is this 5 gal BUCKET of untouched ice cream in the freezer, to bad i can't save it for next year..lol

Gabe's Bulldog Buddies