Checklist for a simple birthday party

I have been so busy lately that even though I knew Master 3’s 3rd birthday was round the corner, I just simply had no time to plan for it! And guess what? This busy mummy only started to plan for the birthday party 3 days before the big day! It has kind of become a norm to me even though I do not like it last minute. Sometimes, I feel guilty that I have not been as conscientious as most other mummies who plan much in advance and take care of every aspect of the party many months before. Well, I am glad I did manage to put up a decent simple party in a short time anyway. No one would know that I had only planned 3 days before.

The following checklist is a mental checklist that I have mastered over the years with 3 kids. Ok, I am sure everyone has about the same list and I am going to share what I did for games, venue, ideas and resources.

Here it goes rolling:

3 days before madness

1. Guest List and invites

First the hub and I decided on a day, not that we have much choice anyway. Usually, we host birthday celebrations on Saturday nights. Then we decided on who to invite. This is easy as the list is usually our immediate families which totalled up to about 13 adults + 10 children. Lucky for us, all our guests were able to make it on the short notice, yet, again. I promise I would not do that again if I can help it, i.e. invitation at the last hour.

2. Party Venue

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We hold parties mostly in our small house. However, after Master 8’s lovely and cosy birthday celebration with his classmates in our favourite yogurt cafe “Frozen – a thousand blessings“, I decided on the same venue since it is new to our guests. A second time lucky for us, the date we had chosen was still available to book. We love this place as the kids love the Frozen yogurt, not to mention that the venue is basically FREE with $120 for a 2 hour slot which included $120 worth of yogurt for our guests! The place is cosy for an Continue reading “Checklist for a simple birthday party”

A simple celebration for Little YT’s 2nd birthday

My baby is 2!
I am happy to celebrate this big day. But I have a dilemma. To throw a party or not to throw. Why so?

A traditional longevity noodle (mee sua) with 2 eggs. It is more special in our family because we cook it sweet!
A traditional longevity noodle (mee sua) with 2 eggs for the birthday boy. It is more special in our family because we cook it sweet!

I am not so much a party person. But I like how birthday celebrations are like close family and friends gatherings. It provides an excuse to Continue reading “A simple celebration for Little YT’s 2nd birthday”

Happy Mother’s Day, Mama! 献给妈妈的信

It’s my 9th Mother’s Day celebration for remembering I am a mum. To be frank, I have never thought of it as a celebration for me. Maybe I am still feeling like a little girl in my heart and the “girl girl” to my dad and mum. So, each Mother’s Day, I see it as a day of significance to let my mum know that she has a place deep in our hearts. Continue reading “Happy Mother’s Day, Mama! 献给妈妈的信”

A Lonely Double Valentine’s Day…

Do I love flowers? Of course! Who doesn’t?
Do I love diamonds? The more the merrier!
Do I love lavish romantic dinners? Yup! Anytime!

These are my secret wishes for Valentine’s Day. But these words would come out from my mouth:
“Don’t spend so much money lah!”
“So crowded!”

Continue reading “A Lonely Double Valentine’s Day…”

How we celebrate our Chinese New Year

Oh, how I love Chinese New Year! It’s my favourite holiday other than Christmas. But the DAY which I love best is Chinese New Year’s eve! This is the busiest day mixed with hard work and happy reunion dinner.

Why hard work? In the days coming up to the Chinese New Year (CNY), we will be busy cleaning up the house. It’s a traditional practice to throw away old stuff and welcome the new things in the new year. A good excuse to give the house a brand new look with some new furnishings and re-decoration of the house. Some of the old stuff in good condition are donated which makes the big clean up a more worthwhile project to work on. Continue reading “How we celebrate our Chinese New Year”