A Panda Party on Pinterest

We celebrated my youngest son’s 5th birthday with a Panda Party. 

When I was prepping goody bags earlier in the week, my 9 year old came up with a suggestion for the party.  She suggested I make bamboo sticks by dipping pretzel sticks in green chocolate.  I loved the fact that she wanted to contribute to the party and was eager to celebrate her creativity.  So, I went to the store and got the supplies for her bamboo sticks.  She asked if I saw that idea anywhere on Pinterest and I told her I hadn’t.  So, she said, “Great, Mom you have to Pin my idea then!”  hahaha… soooo the #1 purpose of this blog post is getting her idea on the internet so it can be pinned on Pinterest.   

While talking about the Panda Party on Sat, my 8 year nice suggested we hang green streamers in the hallway so it looked like we were walking through bamboo trees.  I loved her idea too!!  And even though I had already bought black and white streamers to hang on the back deck, I went and got the green ones to hang as well.  Because, I love LOVED the fact that the girls were getting into the party and wanting to contribute their own ideas.  And I wanted to celebrate their creativity and encourage them to participate. 

Both my 7 year old and my birthday boy helped draw the panda faces on the goody bags.  I loved their contributions and thought their panda faces were even cuter than mine. 

The night before my son’s actual birthday, my 11 year old went on art for kids hub and saw how to draw a panda bear and a red panda bear.  He then drew panda pictures, made copies off them and hung them all over his room after his brother fell asleep.  I loved his sweet and creative idea for his brother.

There are a lot of posts out there on the pressure of being “Pinterest Perfect.”  And I know one can easily spiral out of control trying to make it all look just right.   I understand the sentiments behind just keeping it simple. At the same time, I really appreciate the fact that I, who am not really creative at all in my own right, can google panda party ideas and see tons of suggestions.  Some are way out of my league and I say to myself “no way” but others I thought were super cute and so I tried them out.  They didn’t look exactly like the pictures I saw online, but they looked like pandas so I went ahead and used them. And I embraced all the contributions my children made into making the party special.  It became their labor of love as well.  Because in my opinion, that is what a birthday party is…. a labor of love. 

 

Hopefully my little man felt loved at his Panda Party.