October 20 2013

What Did Dad Say?

Rookie Mistakes by DJ Stevens

When I throw a suit and tie on and head to work, I can predict problems and effectively solve them. When I’m wearing jeans and sneakers…. Not so much. I expect certain things to be simple, when in reality, the scope is larger and more complex than I initially thought.  When I was getting married, I had no idea how much to budget for flowers. I asked the best man. His suggestion (after being told there would be about 200 guests) was to plan for $50-$75. When my wife was pregnant and we were planning on buying all the things you need for a newborn, I thought a crib, a few pairs of clothes, and a pack of diapers should cover it. So when it came time to plan our daughter’s first birthday, I figured having a small gathering at home would keep it simple. Surprise! I planned wrong.

I know my wife is awesome at event planning, but I thought I’d take the burden off her plate by taking the lead on the Party Planning Committee. But soon I was faced with logistical questions. How many guests will fit comfortably in the house? Should we cook, or order food? When people ask “What does the baby want for a gift?”, how do I politely say “Anything that is either quiet or takes up little-to-no space?” The “simple” notion of inviting people over for cake and to sing “Happy Birthday” was proving anything but simple.

We chose to order food and cupcakes, and my wife put her DIY decorating skills to work.  That being said, I still found myself surprised at the number of errands we had to run for a “small” get-together: the deli for sandwiches, the bakery for cupcakes, Party City for balloons, Trader Joe’s for snacks, liquor store… the list went on.  Twenty minutes before people arrived, and the only part of the party that was fully ready-to-go was our daughter.

But you know what?  It all worked.  People showed up, had a good time, and ate lots of cupcakes and sandwich wraps (except the turkey wraps… I’ve never been to a party where people eat all the turkey sandwiches).  The highlight of the day was watching our daughter smash a cupcake with her little one-year-old hands.  This inevitably led to the lowlight of the day, the ensuing sugar rush, but that was still cute in retrospect.

There was definitely way more that went into planning a party for someone that would not even remember it, even with the expressed goal of keeping it small and simple.  But we had plenty of family around us, and there are lots of pictures and memories of the day.  And who knows… maybe we’ll look at those pics next year, smile, and think:  Where is the nearest Chuck E. Cheese?

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