Memories Of Epic Birthday Parties

To a kid, birthdays are huge. An achievement marked by a calendar that proved you were, in fact, a big kid. Not to mention, an entire day all about you. 

And no one celebrated birthdays better than my mom. Every year she went all out, topping my last birthday with a bash that every kid in the neighborhood looked forward to — especially me. 

I love birthday parties – having them and throwing them.

When my husband sighs as I start stressing about every tiny detail about my own daughters’ over-the-top parties, I just smile. He doesn’t get my need to carefully plan everything. He doesn’t see the necessity in 30 painstakingly handmade Minnie and Mickey Mouse ears or a table full of Strawberry Shortcake themed deserts in addition to a birthday cake. He supports my crazy parties, but he doesn’t get it.

He doesn’t get it because he didn’t have my mom. 

To all kids, birthdays are huge. To me and my sister, birthdays were epic. 

Mom was all about the theme, creating an entire event around a theme that was evident down to the tiny details. Decades before anyone dreamed of Pinterest, mom was the ultimate Pinterest party planner. From a bear birthday party that included handmade bear ears for all of the kids (where do you think I got the Minnie Mouse ears idea?) to a Friday the 13th (for my 13th birthday) party that included handmade gravestones with goofy poems ala the Haunted Mansion — every detail was carefully planned. 

You see, while the details might not have been necessary. They were important. And I noticed every single one. 

For my ninth birthday, I had a backwards party – where everything was backwards. It started with an invitation that needed to be held in the mirror to read and asking guests to wear their clothes backward. During the party we even walked backward, swung on the swings backward… everything possible we did backward. 

We even ate dessert first! 

Big birthday bashes don’t happen overnight, and I am already planning my daughter’s 6th birthday party for this spring. And recently I added a new item to my birthday party to-do list — TAKE VIDEOS. 

My daughters’ parties are documented on film (well pixels) down to the very last detail (like this The Little Mermaid Birthday Party), but I totally slack on taking videos — totally. I think we have video of each girl digging into her first birthday cake, but that’s it. And after watching my sister’s 5th birthday and my 9th on video, I vow to take more videos. 

When my girls are grown, I want to be able to look back and watch the joy on their face. I want to see how much they appreciate every detail. Because while a picture is worth a thousand words, a video might be worth a million. 

I loved every minute of my birthday parties, and in this video clip it totally shows.

Thanks to YesVideo, I am reliving my childhood memories and birthday parties by transferring old home videos (on old 8mm and VHS formats) to digital. Not only is the trip down memory lane a lot of fun, but it reminds me just how important cherished family moments are. 

Don’t let your old birthday home videos fade into distant memories. Dust off those old videos and transfer them to digital and DVD with YesVideo.