A Safari Escape
This past weekend Aryan turned 2 and I am still trying to wrap my mind around it all. His first year flew by fast but this second year – I am left speechless. It’s as if I blinked and it was all over. Reality still needs to sink in – “they grow up too fast” sounds like such a cliché but they really do! I look at him now and I see a little boy and it’s as if he never really was a baby – those baby years “long gone” and I keep thinking “how did we get here so fast?”
The morning of his birthday he came running into our room with the biggest smile on his face, bedhair and all, and immediately started singing “happy to twooo” – he just knew that today was THEE day. For months he has been singing “happy birthday” and blowing out imaginary candles but that morning he knew that this was his special day – and as he closed his eyes and excitedly blew out his very own REAL candle (twice!) so many wishes flashed through my mind. Oh, how I wish that he will grow up strong, bold and fearless as he is now, How I wish that the world and society won’t break his spirit and that he will always see the beauty of life. I have so many wishes for him, so many things I want to teach him and show him, but that morning I just stopped, and captured the moment – the beauty of my now 2 year old boy finding joy in a simple birthday song more so than the material gift waiting for him around the corner.
My husband and I decided that we won’t be having a big party for Aryan every year, mainly because our family and friends are scattered all over the world (literally!) and we have a very small circle of family and friends closeby, but also because we would rather invest the money we would have used for a party to do something special and memorable as a family. (For example if his interest are dinosaurs we would rather do a family road trip to a dinosaur expo or museum, etc.).
This year, however, he was still too small to tell us what he wanted to do so we decided to have a small party in our backyard where he could be surrounded with family and friends who adore and love him. My focus was on intimacy – making him feel special and loved without overwhelming him. I decided to stick to the K.I.S.S PRINCIPLE (Keep It Simple Silly) and I am thrilled with the outcome. Last year we went semi BIG – I outsourced most of his party and it was a MESS! Aryan was miserable and was stuck to his grandpa’s hip all day, the décor was a mess and we had no time to change it and I were ready to just curl up into a ball and cry even before the party started. This year I decided to go the opposite route – I outsourced only what was needed and did the rest myself with the help of my wonderful mom and I could not be more pleased. Everything was exactly the way I wanted it, Aryan was happy and comfortable (even though he was sick and not feeling 100%). He had such a ball and so did we since we were surrounded with people we could be ourselves with, and I could go to bed with a content heart.
We decided on a Safari theme purely because of Aryan’s love of the wild – We wanted him to be surrounded with everything Aryan – people & things that he loves and enjoys. It wasn’t a big Royal party but it was enough to make a little boy’s heart happy and if there’s one thing I learned it’s that they don’t care about the glitz and the glamour as long as they are surrounded with happiness.
Some Local Companies that helped make his day special:
- RosieBee children’s clothing – I bought his birthday outfit from this amazing, talented and inspiring mama, and I cant even remember how many times I said a little thank you prayer for it throughout his party. The romper is not only gorgeous but also super soft, comfortable, and adjustable, AND it also passed the toddler play test – it survived the climb test, dive test, messyplay test and even the cake smash test – to say I am impressed is an understatement. See some of her gorgeous garments by following the link https://rosiebee.co.za .
2. Cake Aways by Marone – Marone baked us the most beautiful little Cakesickles for the main table as well as Aryan’s teachers – thank You. (https://www.facebook.com/cakeawaysbyMarone/)
3. Tings and Times – who helped save my party box mess up at .99 and Cheeky Monster who had to re-make the boxes and then drove to my house at 22:00 to make sure Aryan’s class party is a success – THANK YOU! ( https://www.facebook.com/tingsandtimes/ )
4. The Black Hound – For the amazing soft play set – it was definitely the star of the party. Thank you for going above and beyond as always! (https://www.facebook.com/TheBlackHound1/)
“The greatest legacy we can leave our children is happy memories.”
