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I made it to age 5 without having to throw a “real” birthday party for Nora. Part of that is because her birthday is so close to the holidays. Part of that is because she’s always had some small celebration and that’s been fine with her. Part of that is because I am too lazy and disorganized to put together a birthday party. Sure, we threw the big one-year-old bash with everyone we knew. We had survived a whole year of parenting and that felt pretty good. But that party was much more for Ken and I than for Nora. When she turned two, we were on an airplane. She ate a big cupcake and then her birthday was over. At three we brought the party to daycare, celebrating there instead of doing any big party. At four, I cheated, hosting two friends for a playdate and calling it a party.

This year, I wasn’t getting away with cheating.

So I went I booked a birthday party at the Austin Children’s Museum, sent out invitations and set on getting party ready.

But, the truth is, I’m not organized enough to get together any big theme, any pinterest worthy decorations. And having just returned to work, and working all day yesterday, so my time and energy was limited.

But, you know, I bet Nora’s unPinterest birthday was way better than many of the perfect images I see floating around.

It wasn’t a party around one theme. It was a party around one kid. And that kid doesn’t just like one thing. Nora and I went to the party store where she picked out My Little Pony plates and napkins, butterfly invitations, rainbow party hats, pink table cloths, and a plethora of silly junk for her party bag – pencils and pads, parachute army men, sticky stretchy lizards, bracelets, lollipops.

She wanted pretty cupcakes. And her Nana helped with that while I was working yesterday. Her homemade cupcakes with different flavored icings and sprinkles and a raspberry on top were a hit.

The teacher in me panicked last night that the party would need more “structure” than just running around the museum for an hour and a half. So I made a scavenger hunt (and Ken made it look good) that the kids did as they ran around for an hour and a half (which, by the way, is a perfect length for a birthday party).

Nora had an amazing time running around the museum with friends, showing the ones who hadn’t been there around, leading the show. She and her two closest friends went full speed for over an hour before stopping to shove cupcakes and juice into their mouths. She was smiling the whole time.

And isn’t the size of the birthday girl’s smile really what makes a birthday party Pinterest worthy?

I think so.