How to Throw a Simple, Stress-Free 1st Birthday Party

I was nervous about throwing my son's first birthday party. I wanted to make sure he had a blast and that my guests had a good time, too. How do you satisfy both a one year old and a group of mostly twenty somethings and grandparents??

Simple, cut out the stress, don't make a big deal of it, and party! I went cheap on the decorations. After all, my son is one, what's he going to care if the house doesn't transform into a Sesame Street or Tonka truck room? I had a birthday table cloth, banner and balloons already on hand. That was my decor! Hung it up and bam- instant party!

We did easy food too. I lack a dishwasher - you can imagine how fun it is to clean up after parties and holiday dinners with no dishwasher! So we went with pizza, wings, a veggie tray and macaroni salad. Everything was eaten! We didn't have one piece or pizza or one wing left over! I have a tendancy to over do it on the food when throwing parties, so I really wanted to just make Josh the focus of the party. Not the food, not the decorations, just the birthday boy!

It was a success! Everyone enjoyed watching Josh play with his new toys. The food was all eaten! I had almost no leftovers! It was great. Just wrapped up some cake and sent everyone on their way.

Perfect. Forget the favors and themes and over-the-top decor... At the end of the day the baby turned one. He will never remember that fabulous Go Diego Go theme with the full size cut out of Diego himself. Relax! You set the tone for your party. I have plenty more years ahead of me to make a big deal out of birthday parties - I want to make sure he'll at least remember them!