Toddler birthday parties.. why do we do them? ... apart from the amazing cake of course

So my youngest daughter was two last week. Last year on her first birthday, I had three little parties at home to accommodate various people who couldn't make certain dates. Most of the children were Molly's friends from school though, as being One, Lucy was unaware of who her friends really were.
This year, however, was different. Lucy goes to toddler groups and can now talk about her different friends... but would she still appreciate a whole party? Who have I done this for?

So I decided on a party away from home because -
1. Molly had one when she was two (be it a family garden party at my mums though with glorious weather)
2. I wanted to invite her friends over
3. Her friends mostly have siblings the same age as Molly, numbers were getting high.
4. I love parties
5. I wanted to make a big cake
6. Its a good excuse for a get together

Planning the party was easy, and I just booked it on the credit card so it wasn't a big hit to my account, and I did it as cheaply as I could, but the basic room hire was still £150. Being a savvy spender, I made the invitations and printed them off (possibly at work) which cut the cost of about 15 invitations, and they were very personalised to Lucy and quite fab if I might say so myself.
I declined politely the offer to purchase food for the children at about £4 a head. They don't eat half of it anyway, so I made a plan of simple crisps, fruit, sausages and of course birthday cake. I still however managed to spend about £60 on food and supplies for the day.
Invites went out quite early to all Lucy's friends (she does have about 7 genuine friends of her own age who she can name and find in a crowded room), their siblings of course (much to Molly's delight), family and family friends who we wouldn't never be without. 30 children in total from the age of 9 months to 11 years.

Working out the spreadsheet of costs, that was quite a good return on investment, and of course as mentioned above, all their parents would be staying so it was a good social for me too!

Next on the list was party bags. These days you can rarely get away with a party without party bags. Children are so spoilt and expecting of them! Again, the savvy shopper in me was not prepared to spend a fortune on toys that get left in the car on the way home (I could have made up the bags with all the bits my own kids have discarded over the past years worth of parties they've been to) so I bought some bubbles, you can NEVER go wrong with bubbles, some bugs that crawl down the walls (actually these are pretty cool and fitted in with the Gaston/Ben and Holly theme) and then made home made personalised biscuits to go with them. I do love my baking of course!

And then with a few days to go, come the apologies for not coming. I totally understand that everyone has things coming up, and heads to crack open and hospitals to rush to (only one and thankfully he is ok now), but it puts doubts in your mind.
We were down 9 kids by the morning of the party. I started to think about why I was having a party, what I could have done with the money if I'd not spent it all, was it a waste? Was Lucy going to appreciate it, was she even going to be ok herself, as she was under the weather (a bit of Calpol and she was fine), was it going to be a Molly party after all? Too late now anyway!!

So the party went ahead. 21 kids, still quite a few little ones of Lucy's age. Lucy has the BEST time. It was a soft play party at William Penn Leisure Centre, lots of bouncing around on the castle, lots of soft play equipment, all the kids from 9 months to 11 years had a fabulous time. After an hour of playing, we went into the party room for food. I didn't prepare food boxes, I didn't even take the crisps out of the packet. It was great. Lots got eaten, my dearest Godson told me that it was a "lovely meal aunty Lex" and then we cut the cake.
I was particularly proud of my cake, mostly because Lucy knew exactly who was on it, even Big Bad Barry the fish in the pond. AND it tasted awesome :) (smug moment here).

All too soon it was over and everyone left. We went home and Molly helped Lucy to open her gorgeous presents (that I was worried about too, as we have so many toys at home, I wouldn't know what to do with any more) but books, clothes, Ben and Holly wall stickers.. Lucy was very excited, I was very very happy (Thank you all SO much), and now I'm thinking of what to do next year for her, as I've already mentally planned Mollys class party for June!

GOT TO LOVE A PARTY, I'm so pleased I did it, and here is the cake that was the perfect finish to a wonderful day!