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You are here: Home / MOTHERHOOD / A 6th birthday party – when simple is best

A 6th birthday party – when simple is best

July 11, 2016 by Molly 2 Comments

Devon beach

A couple of weeks ago Frog had her 6th birthday party. Unlike the previous two years there wasn’t a huge amount of planning with this one. I didn’t even look at Pinterest, for example. The invitations were hastily made one Sunday afternoon and my mum sorted out the cake. It might have been the lowest key party in terms of prep, but I’m pretty sure it’s the most successful one we’ve ever done.

Rather than hiring a hall we decided to risk the British weather and organised a party at our local beach. We asked parents to drop their kids off at our house and then me, my mum and the NLM drove in convoy in our three cars with a small group of girls and plenty of beach games and food. There were eleven kids in total (nine six year olds and a couple of little sisters – some of the children met us there) and this proved to be the ideal number. There were enough children to do a few organised games but it was a small enough number to verge on the right side of total chaos.

The day before the party I headed to my local bargain store for multi-packs of crisps, biscuits and sweets. On the morning of the party I made a few different types of sandwiches and wraps, packed up some raisins, cut up some fruit and chucked the lot in a big hamper.

Picnic

We were lucky with the weather. Rain was forecast but it held off and we had bright sunshine in between patches of cloud. It was even warm enough for the girls to get into their cozzies and have a paddle (although most of them ended up soaking wet as they inevitably splashed each other!).

The games were impromptu. We did “Make the Mermaid” and the girls divided themselves into teams, drawing a mermaid in the sand and decorating their creations with seaweed and shells. There was a relay race involving pebbles and a bucket, and my mum (former Drama teacher – handy) organised a game based on some imaginative role play. In between the games the girls broke off into little groups and built sandcastles, paddled in the sea or took turns burying each other in the sand.

After a picnic on the beach we headed home for birthday cake and to hand out the party bags. Rather than fill up a load of little bags with plastic tat we bought some large pencil cases which we repurposed as wash bags. These we filled with a little bottle of bubble bath, a homemade scrunchie (thanks Mum!) and a piece of cake. The girls loved their presents and, again, it was a much simpler way of doing things – especially as we got the wash bags for 89p each from the bargain store!

It couldn’t have been more different to Frog’s party last year – a disco in the village hall that took a good month of planning and plenty of last-minute stress. That party was also a whole lot more expensive too. I’m not saying we won’t do a big party like that again, but this year’s offering was so easy, cheap and stress-free it proved to me that sometimes the simplest things are the best.

Remind me of that come October when I start fretting about Baby Girl’s second birthday.

 

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Filed Under: Babies, MOTHERHOOD Tagged With: beach, birthday party, country living, Devon life, motherhood, Parenting

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Comments

  1. Christina says

    July 18, 2016 at 7:35 pm

    So lovely to see that not everyone spends a fortune all the time on children’s birthday parties!!! My little one turns 3 years old next week and we’ve still not thrown a “party” for any of her birthdays. Instead we have always done something special with her instead. On her 1st birthday we took her to the zoo, 2nd birthday we went to splash landings at Alton Towers and her 3rd birthday is next week and I’d love to take her to Thomas Land. Parties are nice, but sometimes I think keeping things simple and enjoying some family time is just as nice. When she’s older we’ll throw her a couple of parties, but I’d like to think that she’ll still enjoy a fun family day out as well to celebrate

    Reply
    • Molly says

      July 19, 2016 at 12:04 pm

      I think that sounds like a lovely way to celebrate. We’ve always done parties in the past but experience shows that often simple is just as good. I think my daughter enjoyed this year’s party more than any of her others!

      Reply

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Hello and welcome! I'm Molly Forbes - podcaster, presenter and blogger with a passion for positivity, confidence and body image chat. Regularly writing and vlogging about empowering female issues from a motherhood angle, I also cover lifestyle and fashion topics for like-minded mums who want to rediscover themselves after having children. Thanks for stopping by! Read More…

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If you feel bad about your body you’re less like If you feel bad about your body you’re less likely to do nice things for it, including moving in a way that feels good and eating in a way that feels good. (FYI health is about more than just exercise and nutrition, but let’s get deeper into the exercise thing for a second...)
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Research shows kids who have low body image are less likely to get involved with sports and more likely to skip PE. 
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Want kids to move more? Stop teaching them that one type of body is better than another - because if their body doesn’t look like your version of a healthy / beautiful / successful body not only will they be more likely to feel shame over their body, they’ll be less likely to engage with the very behaviours you want them to do more of (or be more likely to engage with them in an UNhealthy way - compulsive exercise is dangerous).
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Instead:
💕Try talking about the intrinsic benefits of exercise over the extrinsic ones (ie. how it makes you FEEL instead of how it makes you LOOK).
✨Create opportunities for movement where ALL children feel welcome. 
💕Show children diverse representation so they can see sporting heroes with a range of body types and know that movement is for EVERYbody. 
✨Take a zero tolerance approach to appearance based bullying, body shaming and comments that perpetuate weight stigma (including even the hint that fat = bad). 
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(If you’re a teacher or youth leader interested in knowing more about this topic, a #BodyHappyKids workshop will help - follow the link in my bio 🥰❤️)
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[Image description: A multicoloured slide with an overlaid screenshot of tweet by Molly which reads ‘If your intention is to “get kids healthy” then you need to be aware of how weight bias, weight stigma and poor body image are active barriers to health. The end.]
Sharing this outfit pic with you because it’s a Sharing this outfit pic with you because it’s a crying shame only the piles of laundry got to see it, quite frankly. Finally, a pair of pre-loved jeans bought online that are true to size, consistent with the rest of the brand’s sizing and actually fit! 🎉 
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PS heads up - I’ll be doing a Q&A about body image and kids in my Stories on Friday. The Q sticker is up in my Stories now if you’d like to submit a Q! 💕 #BodyHappyKids
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[Image description: Molly is standing in front of the mirror looking very pleased with the fact her new jeans bought from Depop fit her. She is wearing pink patterned jeans with cherubs on them, a pink check jumper and pink trainers. There are piles of laundry on the bed behind her.]
Another photo of us on a walk, because it’s been Another photo of us on a walk, because it’s been our main form of entertainment this year. Anyone else? 
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I honestly now get excited about putting my boots on and being outdoors, even in the rain. I’m going to start hugging trees next and going on wild camping weekends that involve doing a poo behind a tree and making my own fire. Joke.... maybe. 
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Just another reminder that all movement is valid, exercise doesn’t need to have to be about burning calories or even tracking steps in order for it to be “worth it”. Hope everyone’s had a great weekend ❤️
#BodyHappyMum #JoyfulMovement
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Image description: Molly and her two daughters stand on a bridge in the countryside. They are all wearing hiking boots and outdoor clothes and smiling.
My body is good and excellent and my body only bel My body is good and excellent and my body only belongs to me ✨ (Words by Effie May, age 6 💕) #BodyHappyMum
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Image description: A close up of Molly’s bare skin as she hugs herself. It’s dark and part of her body is illuminated by light. She has her eyes closed and is smiling.
“Mummy I wrote a letter to myself,” she said. “Mummy I wrote a letter to myself,” she said. And my heart swelled. Maybe I’m doing an OK job after all 🤞❤️💕 #BodyHappyKids 
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I could leave this caption here but I need to make something clear: if you think it’s great that my daughter - a thin, white, nondisabled, cisgender kid - feels good in her body but you’re not here for the self-love of any kid who doesn’t look like her.... then you’ve missed the point.
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ALL bodies are good bodies, and without this important piece of the puzzle ALL children will be at risk of doubting their body. And what happens when they doubt their body? Well... hating our body doesn’t make us treat it with love, and the same is true of kids. 
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Great, now we’ve cleared that up, can we take a moment to appreciate the incredible phonetic spelling on show here?! 
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Image description: Effie, age 6, stands against a white wardrobe holding up a letter she has written to herself. It is spelled phonetically and reads “My body is good and excellent and my body only belongs to me.”
I used to struggle to buy stuff for myself if I ha I used to struggle to buy stuff for myself if I had any spare cash - not just treats, but basics like pants and tights that fit properly. I’d tell myself I didn’t need it, didn’t deserve it, couldn’t justify the expense. There’s still that little voice (the habit of putting everyone else’s needs first and my own last dies hard it seems) but I’m leaning into exploring why it still sometimes rears its head, instead of always listening to it. 
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I’m trying to buy as much as I can from pre-loved places or small businesses these days, which is why I’m very happy to share with you some of my latest finds: a star dress from Depop (£5), earrings from @kelzojewellery by @ourtransitionallife (£12) and the comfiest tights I’ve ever owned in Raspberry Pie by @snagtights (£6.99) 💕💕💕
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Have you found any great small brands lately? Shout them out in the comments so we can all support in the run up to Christmas. ⬇️⚡️
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Image description: Molly is smiling and sticking out her tongue to the camera. Her hair is freshly dyed a light shade of pink. She’s wearing a pink t’shirt underneath a black and white star patterned slip dress, with bright pink tights and black and pink earrings decorated with a boob design.
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