What would you do- 3 yo birthday party away from Home

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DS2 will be turning 3 in January. We will be abroad for 5 months, with this right in the middle.

I only know one other family with young kids locally there well enough to invite to a party.
we have a couple of other friends with kids in the country but living about 2 hours away and he hasn’t met them since he was a baby. None of the kids he knows beyond the odd play date.

To be honest for some reason I have some
anxieties around hosting kids parties. We haven’t really had a party for him yet, last year his dad was away so we had a family celebration with cake and presents on a different date and took a friend on an afternoon out. At that stage he wasn’t much into other kids, but he loves his friends now and has also attended lots of birthday parties, and I worry he will start wondering why he hasn’t had his own.

I think the options are:

1. have a family only celebration again- we have a couple of (adult) extended family who could come to make it a bit more exciting. He does love the cake element of birthday parties
2. have a very early party in our home country- about 3 months early
3. have a super informal party in the country we are visiting with the people we know and whomever we can try and meet in the first month or two , maybe in the park with no presents and hope we can get enough people to come / that he’s bonded enough with them to enjoy it by then

What would you do?

Option 1. You can't really call it a birthday party if it's three months early, and if you meet a load of nice people you can always say that you'll be in the park at x time with cupcakes to celebrate if you're free.

Option 3.

Where in the world will you be? A summer birthday vs a winter birthday may change my opinion.

I'd go with 1 with the option of extending to 3 if you've/he has made some friends locally in the time you are there. He's only 3 - you can make it fun with some decorations, present and the all important cake.

He doesn’t need a big birthday party - you’re away when it’s his birthday so, do something fab with him that day go to a zoo or a play centre or something with him that day- he can wear a t shirt with his age on or a birthday crown or a big badge and just make the day for him.
You could visit a park where children will be so he gets to play with other children.
Then have a birthday tea at home with a cake and when relatives call round they can have a cup of tea and a slice of birthday cake.
its not mandatory to have a party !!!

Go for option 1 and can always branch out to option 3 if you make some lovely friends x

1

Honestly it depends on the country.
Australia? Invite people to a bbq at the closest park.

Russia? A trip to the circus and cake somewhere.

Not having a party at 3 is no big deal.

You could start a new birthday tradition. Cake for breakfast? Upside down day ? desert to start the day and cereal at dinner time.

1 - little kids love their family and having a basic tea party with cake and some decorations is a huge treat. You could also have an outing somewhere fun and okay with toys at home.

I’m not against moving a birthday party a few days but 3 months early for a kid who is only 33 months old is not reasonable.

I wouldn’t be stressing out trying to bond with new people when you have just moved to a new country in order to make a birthday party a bigger event. If he makes a friend then ask them to tea by all means but don’t worry about it. Even settled kids would only have 2-3 friends at a party at that age.

Don’t stress yourself out about this - keep it simple with option 1. We’ve only ever done family gatherings for my two up until my eldest wanted a friends party when she turned 6. You really don’t need to throw a big party or have friends around whilst they’re young especially if it will cause stress.

1. Have a lovely day out at the zoo , with a special birthday tea and cake.

Option 1. A three year old needs nothing more than mum, dad, a cake and a perhaps a present to open or a trip to a toy shop. Even that at 3yo is considered ott by some. It wasn’t until my ds’s 4th bday that he really knew what was going on and even then I only did what I just suggested. He said it was the ‘best day ever’ (I also gave him pizza for dinner). So there ya go!

Oh and… believe me when I say bday parties at this age are incredibly overrated, socially stressful (granted this is coming from a bit of an introvert) and just a bit… pointless? Unless of course he was at nursery or preschool and had already established a good little friendship or close cousins nearby etc. Save this energy until he is older and actually asks who he wants to come to celebrate his bday.

Option 4 - a fun family day out together

Option 4: have no party and go out someone fun with you child and partner

Yes - I agree with this too.

A just three year old won’t know they haven’t had a party, so you may as well just have a special day out at the zoo or something.

In a way this is nicer, as you can just focus on them and not entertaining a crowd!

No party? A 3yo doesn’t need a party. I’m not an ogre just not something that would have even. Crossed my mind to think about!

Thanks for all the reassuring replies! We will have a nice stress free family day. Very helpful to know I’m not depriving him of a formative childhood experience 😅

Will your son be joining any nursery groups while you are away? ,if so he could invite them.

I was abroad for my DD's 3rd birthday. We had a party and invited the neighbouring children. Was good fun and DD didn't care that she didn't know them, they don't care at that age.

We didn’t do birthday party’s until the children started school. Enjoy a simple day and don’t stress about it.