I'm grateful for...... Childhood Birthday Memories

CHILDHOOD BIRTHDAY MEMORIES

Today I am joining in Maxabella's "I'm grateful for"

January is coming to an end....

At long last, the tedious month of returning to work and school preparations is over.

Now, I am filled with excitement, anxiousness and a touch of insanity as

February and March

are the 

BIRTHDAY MONTHS

in our house!

Master O will turn 4 in February (I can't believe I will have a four year old!)

AND Little Miss A will turn 1 in March!

I LOVE BIRTHDAY PARTIES!

Well actually I just LOVE Birthdays AND Parties, 

so the two combined places me in party planning heaven!

Birthday's ARE A BIG DEAL in our family.

Growing up, my Mum always insured that we had Birthday Party every year! 

 No fast food chain Birthday Parties for us!

Only the at home, decorated with balloons and streamers, 

hand made cake, playing games in the back yard variety!

Mum even created birthday parties for my Cabbage Patch dolls, including a cake!

So, now you know where I am coming from, I can not escape the party planning gene, it's inherited!

I always took our Birthday parties for granted, 

now as a mother I finally realise how much work Mum put in each year.

But Mum, it was sooo worth it!

So many of my favourite childhood memories and traditions are associated with my Birthday Parties!

The Australian Cake Choosing Tradition

The preparations for the upcoming Birthday would begin months in advance as we drooled over the cake creations in the Womens Weekly Birthday Cake book.

I had a rabbit, a butterfly, a "Hickory Dickory Clock" BUT 

I always wanted the swimming pool!  

You know the one filled with blue jelly?!

Lucky us, we usually chose two cakes one for the party and one for Mum to bring up to school!!!

Planning who to invite

With the best of intentions we had the rule you could invite as many people as the age you were turning - For example 8 people for your 8th Birthday. Fortunately for us this rule was easily bended!

To this day I still hear the 5 year olds in my class bartering with each other over a birthday party invite

"I'll give you the pink crayon if you invite me to your birthday party!"

The outfits

There are two most memorable Birthday outfits for me.

Before you read, be kind, it was the 80's!!!

A handmade balloon skirt,  that was actually made out of fabric with balloons on it!

and a pink and green tracksuit type outfit reminiscent of Nicole Kidman in BMX Bandits, I even frizzed my hair Nicole Kidman style for the occasion!

The Decorations

There was nothing more exciting than having a pre party nanna nap to awake to the house decorated.

Think foil, Happy Birthday Banner, pink balloons and the mandatory intertwined streamers that were wrapped around everything!

The Games

Pass the parcel, pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs, freeze and one of my favourites the pass the ballon and pop it when the music stops.  Inside the balloon was a small piece of paper on which was written something you had to do.  

Sing "Twinkle Twinkle" or "I'm a Little Tea Pot" or dance the "Macarena"

 Oh the fun and the embarrassment!

The Food

Oh how the food nazi's would cringe over our typical 1980's food!

What was a Birthday Party without Fairy Bread, Cheerios and RED Cordial!!!

  As I prepare for my children's birthdays,  I can only hope, that amidst the cupcake toppers, gluten/dairy everything free food that I will remember the simplicity and old fashioned fun of those childhood birthday's.   I am sure there were late nights, ruined icing and sore fingers from tying balloons but those birthday memories, created for me by a loving Mum....for them,  I am truly grateful.