To birthday or not to birthday

Today we are celebrating the brat's birthday at his playschool Al Shumus, a place I cannot praise enough.

As he entered school, he was greeted with a chorus of happy birthdays and the teachers had decorated the room for him.

He began the day with phone calls - his grandparents called, his doting grand aunt called, cousins called.. and the brat has been wearing a big goofy wide-eyed grin ever since!!!

But today is not the brat's birthday today at all!

At school, he has been watching other children cut a fancy cake, blow out candles and the entire class sing the Happy Birthday song . For the past few months we have been having several pretend parties where I would be one of his beloved teachers and he would be the birthday boy!!

So the husband and I decided to indulge him and have a birthday party at school - his first ever birthday party!

Not that we did not mark his birthdays and other milestones but it was all done on a very low key with just the family being there. Lot of love, all his favorites (food and people!!), it's just that the elaborate cake cutting ceremony and candles were missing...much to the disgust of my cousin who took it upon himself to organize a small party when the brat turned one!

Traditionally, the first birthday is marked with a big celebration. That's when everybody has a great time.... except the baby!

A million strangers pinch the poor baby's cheeks and the baby usually falls asleep, exhausted by the noise, the people and the festivities about him.

We waited till the brat was a little more grown up when he could enjoy, plan and look forward to his party. Which is what happened.

The brat chose the cake himself - a 'digger' cake with construction equipment strewn about it, mango juice, chips and 'bikets'. He also chose the paper napkins - a real gaudy red that would put a fire engine to shame.

I now wait for the brat to come home and give me his account of the big day and to see pictures the teachers will hopefully have taken.

What did you guys do / plan to do for the little ones?

Do you think babies and toddlers enjoy big parties or should we wait till they are 3 to have a party with all their friends and favoritefoods and games thrown in?

An aside

Incidentally, the cake was from Al Bustan Bakery near Al Khamis Plaza. Personally, I was disappointed with the variety they had but my son loved the 'digger cake' and I guess that's what matters!!

And incidentally once again, Sultan Centre is the pits when it comes to choosing party items. Much to my surprise Lulu Hypermarket had a great selection. Of course, I did not even bother to check out any of the AlFairs.