My little one is coming up for his second birthday soon and I want to make it feel special for him.
I placed a lot of hope on his first birthday feeling magical and special (I had a bit of a tough year, I didn't make any mum friends on maternity leave, I felt sad and low mostly everyday, I couldn't do a full years leave and had to go back after none months which was devastating at the time and I cried so much about giving up with breastfeeding early on) and it didn't. My little one obviously wasn't aware of what day it was and didn't understand the concept of presents to get excited about, I really wanted the decorations to look good but I couldn't get them to look right, my partner wasn't really bothered so I had to organise/buy presents and decorate on my own, then he spent the whole party just drinking with his family (who I don't think interacted with our son past saying "happy birthday") and went out till 3am the next morning so I think i just spent the evening crying into the sandwiches no one ate!
Social media always shows reels/photos of these impressive birthday partied with massive balloon arches/crafts/toys/photoshoots. I don't think he would enjoy a massive party just yet and the thought of planning something like that fills me with fear.
I was thinking about doing something at home. He loves pouring water around and his play kitchen, so maybe a "potion making station" in the garden and some other toys (bubble machine etc.) out there, plus party food and cake.
Is it bad form to do something messy like that at a party? I would 100% tell guests about it before so they could pack spare clothes/a towel. It would probably be around 4 kids, his cousin plus a couple of my friends kids who we go on playdates with quite often.