I’ll always cherish the simple backyard birthday parties

I’ll always cherish the simple backyard birthday party. Why, some may ask? Let me paint a picture. 

The evening is young, and all of your loved ones are gathered together in celebration of the day your child was born. Kids are running through the yard, twirling hula hoops around their waists and chasing each other with bubbles. 

The adults are engulfed in deep-belly laughter and hearty conversation. Cheap party favors are strewn over your fence and your driveway is full of vehicles—all which have carried the familiar, loving faces to your home. 

Related: Mom goes viral for birthday party debate 

Your husband is on the grill and your sisters are in the kitchen arranging fruit and veggie trays. You watch your child’s friends load their hotdogs up with ketchup and carry their plates back outside. With no care in the world, they plop themselves on the grass, stuff their faces, lick the Cheetos dust from their fingers and hurry back to their fun.

You join the adults in conversation, and the undeniable glee carries on long into the night. Before you know it, your husband is turning the gazebo lights on and the chirp of crickets are filling the air. The summer sun has set and made way for a nice, cool breeze—but the fun doesn’t stop. 

Related: Sorry, but I don’t miss the birthday party insanity from my kids’ early childhood

It continues until parents are carrying their sleeping children over their shoulders and loading them into the car. It continues until the last “Goodbye” falls from your lips and silence finally fills the space of your home. 

With a backyard birthday party, you’re not rushed to pack up and have everyone out of a rented venue by a certain time. If preferred, you can leave the scattered cups and napkins for the morning. Most likely, someone has already generously walked around and picked up the trash for you, maybe even washed the dirty dishes. It’s the best kind of thing. But the very best thing? It’s all from the comfort of your backyard—a welcoming, intimate and warm setting.

This is the joy and pure ease of a simple backyard birthday party that will always have my heart.

I cherish the simple backyard birthday party because we have the opportunity to break bread with the people we love dearly.

I wouldn’t want it any other way, honestly. What I cherish about those simple backyard parties is that there doesn’t have to be a set agenda. There doesn’t have to be some elaborate schedule that includes entertainment from a clown or some over-the-top bounce house. 

All you need is a little room in your heart for chaos and uncertainty. All you need is your child, loved ones and your backyard (and of course cake). With those things, the time will flow just how it’s supposed to.

Related: Kids are now having ‘fiver’ birthday parties and it’s pretty genius 🙌

Birthday parties aren’t about showing off what kind of extravagant things we can afford or trying to impress everyone who attends. They’re not about getting lost in a trend or spending an exorbitant amount of money—at least they shouldn’t be (but I don’t knock it for you if that’s what you prefer).  

They’re about celebrating in the midst of loved ones—the very community that has played a part in raising your child. And this can be done with a simple birthday party for kids. I’m not sure where along the lines we started to believe otherwise. I’m not sure where along the lines going over-the-top for our kids’ birthdays became an expectation.

But I don’t lean into the pressure. I cherish the simple backyard birthday party because we have the opportunity to break bread with the people we love dearly. And in turn, they shower our child with love in the one place where he knows it best—his home. 

Related: Confession: I love birthdays, but could do without the parties

These kinds of intimate celebrations are what binds us together and creates meaningful, lasting memories and relationships—ones that we’ll cherish for years and years.

And the backyard birthday party doesn’t even have to be literal. Alternatives like hosting a party in your garage, inside your house (especially for winter birthdays) or even at a local park still give the same sentiment of creating an intimate space—and a simple birthday party.

Inviting people into an intimate setting offers a hospitality that you just can’t find anywhere else, like at SkyZone where a bunch of strangers are chasing their kids around while you’re trying to keep an eye on your own.

So I’m here for the simple birthday party, the one where size doesn’t matter because it can be as small or big as you want. The one where kids run off their sugar highs into the night. The one where adults get caught in the crossfire of water balloon fights or Silly String. Because those are what make moments—and moments are what make memories.