Solving September Birthdays

Happy birthday to me!

I LOVE having a September birthday. September is everything I love: New school supplies, a fresh start, apple pie, and the start of Fall. And of course, my husband and firstborn are also September birthdays, so it's a full month of celebrations in our house. 

Me! On my birthday! In September!

I know I'm an outlier in this—hating September birthdays has become commonplace. The start of the school year is so overwhelming that people often either choose to celebrate their child's half-birthday in February or opt out of the birthday party entirely. 

Nevertheless, September birthday parties have several advantages. The weather is usually amazing and you can host at least part of the party outside. Also, people have "new year" expectations, and tend to be more open to new things.

But hosting birthday parties in September is also more complicated—and carries a heavier mental load—than at other times of the year.

• As the first birthday of the school year, there is pressure on you to set the tone.
• If your child is starting a new school or switching to a new class, you have to deal with tricky questions about who to invite.
• With calendars still up in the air, it's hard to know when to schedule the party.
• With all the changes to routine, finding time to order decorations or plan games seems impossible!

Never fear, Streamer Trunk has you covered!

First, precedent-setting pressure. As with everything about September, the decisions you make can set the tone for the whole year. You have the opportunity here to switch up some of the details without having to worry about "every other party did xyz" and make the party work for you and your child. Going first is an advantage here!

Next up: solving the invitation dilemma. In addition to all the usual reasons to host a party, I use my daughter's September birthday as a tool to help her make new friends, adjust to her new classmates, and for me to get to know other parents better by inviting them into my home. Here are a couple of scenarios:

1) Your child is new to the school, hasn't made any lasting friends yet, and still just wants to hangout with friends from playgroup / gymnastics / church / the neighborhood. In this scenario, we invite the whole class and two special outside of school friends. (Party Tip: Never invite just ONE friend from a different setting. It's likely that child will shadow your child all day, making it hard for your child to connect with other guests. Invite at least two friends, so each guest knows more people at the party.) Be prepared for all the parents to stay for the party and set up a coffee bar or special spot where they can connect with each other without getting in the way of games you have planned. While it can be scary to invite strangers (both the kids and their parents!) into your home, it's a great shortcut for getting to know people and allowing them to get to know you.

2) Your child is in the same school as last year, but the classes have been shuffled and her besties from last year are all in the other class.  Again, we invite the whole new class and 2 friends from last year's class. If space is a concern, you can invite only the girls or only the boys, but we find that kids don't naturally segregate that way until age 8 or older. 

3) If your child is looking for a smaller group, it can be hard to decide who to include and who to cut, especially when they don't know their new classmates well. I ask questions like, "Who seems like the kindest kid in your class so far? Who has made you laugh the most? Who do you seem to have the most in common with? Who would you like to get to know better?" That helps us to pick a few new friends to invite along with our besties from last year.

Next question: when should we schedule the party? With September birthdays, I tend to delay the party until a week or two after the actual birthday. The beginning of the school year has a flurry of extra tasks already—parent meetings, kickoff events, and last minute trips for school supplies and clothes. In addition, the class list often doesn't even come home until later in the month! We let our parties drift to the end of the month or even into the first week in October. 

Lastly: with all that extra mental load that September brings (do last year's cleats still fit?), where can you find the time to source birthday party decorations and plan fun party games? This is where Streamer Trunk REALLY has you covered. All our trunks come with everything you need to host a party for 8, 16, or 24 kids, complete with decorations, tableware, and age appropriate crafts, games, and activities! 

While having Septembers birthdays can feel like an extra burden, it's also an opportunity to flip the script and set the tone for your whole year. Hosting an imaginative party for your child, where kids and adults alike have a real chance to connect, can be the start of a beautiful year and beautiful friendships!