Hosting Our Island Birthday Party

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Island Birthday Party

My daughter’s birthday is in March. When the country shut down in March 2020, it happened to be the weekend we planned a big Disney World trip to celebrate her third birthday. We didn’t go to Disney that weekend, instead opting to stay home, eat cake, and worry (internally) about the future. 

Two years later, and here we are. She will be five years old this month, and the last two years have been anything but normal. Typically our family takes trips to celebrate birthdays. We do this because we don’t live near family and have honestly haven’t made good enough friends to throw a party. But this year, her birthday wish was to have a party and invite all of her classmates. This idea instantly gave me a wave of panic because of our island status. “Island Status” means that we have no family near, and we haven’t built a community. Our island consists of the four people in our immediate family. This situation doesn’t exactly lend itself to a birthday “party.” 

Thinking back on the difficult past two years and how that affected my now seven and (almost) five-year-old’s, I decided to throw the party. I found a rental company to get a bounce house, a cotton candy machine, and an appearance by Sonic. I ordered the Etsy invited with a unicorn and had enough printed for the entire preschool class. I’m sweating through my shirt this whole time because I thought no one would show up. At some point in this process, I decided that whether anyone showed up or not, I would prepare for a fun party. I found a woman here in Broward who makes custom piñatas. Food is ordered, candy is purchased, and balloons will be here. I’ve received five RSVPs from kids in her class, so I’m confident that someone will show up, and we will have a great time. 

Update: Whew! Many of her classmates showed up, and we all had a great time. So if you’re in this same situation, my unsolicited advice is to do it! Throw the party. Invite the neighbors, classmates, and anyone you’ve met who you think is cool. Shout out to all my preschool teachers who hand out the invites and remind parents to RSVP. 

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