birthday parties

Last year was the first year my oldest had a birthday party with friends. It was a small affair at our home, with a couple of his closest friends. It was simple and they all had fun.

We were at the local community center recently, and I noticed they offered climbing wall parties. I asked him if he would like to do that this year and he looked at me like I was an alien. I pressed him a bit and he said "Noooo. What if anyone is afraid of heights? Or they couldn't find the place? Or they just didn't like climbing?" I said I thought it would be fun and he disagreed again.

A couple days later I noticed they offer birthday parties at the local children's museum. Again, I was told that wouldn't be a good idea. I asked if he wanted a party, and he replied that he did - but it should be at our home.

A few days later, the boys were playing with Legos and I said "Hey! How about a Lego-themed birthday party?" He was VERY enthusiastic about that idea and told me that I could make a Lego person cake! I said that I thought I'd make a Lego-block cake (remembering that I've seen them around the 'net) and he said "Naw, that's too easy for you. I want a Lego-person cake!" I guess that's what happens when you've made volcanoes, swimming pools and bulldozers in the past for birthdays! LOL!

I think it's so sweet that he would prefer to have a party at home. He attended 3 birthday parties last year, and none of them were at anyone's home -- 2 were at bounce places and the third was at a laser tag place. He had a lot of fun at all those parties. Even so, his first (and only) preference is to have a party at home.

Part of the reason I'm blogging this is because when I told my parents, they responded with "Yea, wait until he's 15! Then he'll be saying how he always wanted a birthday party at a special place, but you always made him have them at home!" I responded with "Well, I'll blog this and then I can go back and show him!"