The stress that children's birthdays bring

It is often said that after divorce and losing your job, vacation is the biggest stressor in a person's life. I would gladly trade vacation for the phenomenon: your child's birthday. Because really, the hassle of packing some light dresses, a couple of swim rings, and enough sunscreen really doesn't compare to the hell that is called a children's birthday party.

It starts a few days in advance. Then it is celebrated with family. Since my nieces (a twin) have their birthday on November 4th and my daughter on the 10th, we conveniently plan it on one day. It became a visit to Nemo (which is fun for all ages, even for grandpa) and then we wrapped it up with a dinner just the way I like it. A long table with all the food from the menu, popping bottles of wine, and children having such a good time that the staff is almost sighing.

On one hand, it's convenient to combine those birthdays, but that means the other family has to celebrate at another time. And that, dear people, is still separate from handing out at school and organizing the children's party.

‘It starts a few days in advance. Then it is celebrated with family.’

Children's parties, you should know, are no longer what they used to be. Once, I had the naive idea to organize an afternoon of games with cookie biting, sack racing, and a potato-on-spoon race. I learned my lesson. “Where are we going?” “You were supposed to arrange a carriage?” Anyway. I have since learned that when it comes to children's parties, the motto ‘bigger-more original-better’ applies.

So my colleague Daniëlle (really a master organizer) set up a detective game for daughter Moya's party where clues were called in during the game. As if that wasn't enough, she made a balloon tower at the front door and Moya was allowed to invite 15 children. That last part is a great tip because then your child also gets invited back often and you never have to deal with a sad child who didn't receive an invitation. But what a job it is, people. A job. After the party, a ‘spontaneous’ drink with the parents and then the real birthday still has to begin.

‘So I was still crafting streamers myself last night at 11:00 PM. Seriously.’

In all the preparation stress, I hadn't even had time for a gift. And did I mention that the cake baker who was supposed to bake The Cake canceled the day before? I wrestled myself away from my phone and desk and got stuck in traffic on the way to De Bijenkorf in Amstelveen. They still had cakes. Check. Streamers, they no longer had. And no children's toys either. Why not? Panic sprang from my eyes.

Fortunately, Bart Smit was still open, but the saleswoman there had forgotten to remove the security tag from the Frozen dress. Thanks a lot. Of course, I found that out when I got home. I also discovered at home that my dear daughter had ‘played’ with the streamers and found it absolutely necessary during their creative session to cut a lot of little streamers. So I couldn't use those anymore.

So I was still crafting streamers myself last night at 11:00 PM. Seriously. What I made as a treat, you want to know? Well, I outsourced that. At Life of Pie Amsterdam. They bake cookies that look like fries and put them in a fry box with a dip of pink whipped butter with colored sprinkles. This led to fierce criticism from my colleagues. “May, a treat should be homemade. Shame on you.” Fortunately, I found comfort with my working-mother colleague Daan. “Oh, these are homemade too. They were just made in a different house.”