This weekend we celebrated MM’s 9th birthday with some of his friends from school – we decided to invite said friends along with their siblings and parents and throw a laid back BBQ birthday bash in our backyard. Lots of alliteration this year. Clearly.

Luckily we also had lots of good weather – MM didn’t want a “theme” this year and I embraced that request and really didn’t plan anything aside from what food to feed people. I threw some frisbees, balls and backyard toys outside and the kids being kids knew what to do. They kept themselves busy until Dan was done cooking up some hot dogs and they wandered over for dinner – then back to playing until I brought out presents to open and shortly after that an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.

In between chatting with the other parents, I played a little bit of defense when there was a difference of opinion or a child wandering too close to fire, etc. but for the most part I was just able to enjoy myself and pat myself on the back for throwing such a laid back, retro birthday party like the kind I had growing up.

I’ll admit – part of me missed the “themey” fun – I’m already pinning some ideas for a butterfly tea party for Little Miss but I think this year’s party served as a reminder that we need to cut ourselves some slack and embrace simplicity: Birthdays don’t need to be Pinterest Perfect – they just need good friends to celebrate with and that’s it! Really.