You guys,
Over the weekend we hosted George’s first birthday party at our house with 30 guests.
It’s easy to get caught up in all the things of a party: food, details, decorations, activities, and forget to actually enjoy the most important and best part of any party: the conversation.
My biggest regret at my wedding was a feeling that every time I was in a conversation with a person - even when I was thoroughly enjoying that conversation - I felt pulled to talk to other people to make sure I was being a “good host” and talking with everyone.
But that didn’t make me a good host. It made me frazzled and anxious.
So when you’re throwing a party, remember it’s just as important for you to enjoy yourself as it is for your guests to enjoy themselves. A happy host is a happy party.
My No.1 metric for success is when people leave the party thinking about all the good conversations they had. (Who am I kidding, food first! We make awesome food.)
Most importantly, George had a swell time. When we sang happy birthday he was completely unphased and sat in his high chair sucking on a piece of shrimp cooked in olive oil - his favorite.
Essay of the Week
George turns 1 year old tomorrow and for his birthday I wrote him a letter.
This letter felt very important. What should I include in such a letter? I didn’t want it to be cliche with lines about how much I love him, even though I love him more than he will ever know. (See??) I didn’t want it to be general with all the grand values I want and hope for him, even though I want him to be kind and empathetic and all those kinds of things!
Every time I sat down to write this letter it felt like I had too much to say and I didn’t know where to begin.
Then my husband sent me this tweet:
Anyone who’s a parent or plans to someday be a parent should read this thread.
It guided me to narrow my focus on what I wanted to say to George. So rather than focus on him and this past first year of his life, I wrote about my decision to have a baby.
Husbands and Wives
When planning George’s birthday party I knew I wanted to decorate with balloons. The party would take place in our backyard, back porch, and in the kitchen and living room.
When I asked Sam how many balloons we should get, he thought about it for a second and said, “12?”
12 balloons. We needed 12 balloons just for the front step so people knew they were at the right house!
I ordered 77 balloons: six dozen plain red, four big ones that read “Happy Birthday,” and one rainbow “1” balloon to go above George’s high chair.
...12 balloons.
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Until next week,
Charlie