Breakfast Pajama Birthday Party

In my family, breakfast is a bit of a polarizing issue. Like Obamacare. Or cilantro. Or fascination with Meyers-Briggs. Either you love it or you don't. There is no middle ground.

I am decidedly pro-breakfast - unlike my husband and my oldest child. (Who are weird, let's be clear. Who doesn't like breakfast?!?) Thankfully, my second-born, Connor, shares my enthusiasm for the morning meal. 

And that's how we came up with the idea to throw a breakfast pajama birthday party the year he turned 7. (Universal birthday party tip: Use your child's passions to spark a party theme. Their favorite color, their favorite activity, even the first letter of their name can all be great ideas to center a party around.) 

The Theme: 
Breakfast Pajama Birthday Party

The Cake: 
Pancakes, of course. Duh.

(This pained me, honestly, because I love to bake and not serving birthday cake at a birthday party felt wrong. Just wrong. But I figured my fellow moms didn't want their boys coming home at 11:00 AM already hyped up on sugar. So.) 

The Food: 
Besides pancakes, we had a yogurt banana split bar. 

I used half-frozen yogurt in place of ice cream and let Connor and his friends customize with toppings like fresh strawberries, mini chocolate chips, granola, whipped cream and sprinkles. It was a huge hit. 

And a lot of sugar. Guess we didn't need that cake after all. 

The Decor: 
We kept it simple and went with a diner theme. The paper products were classic red-and-white checked, and I made the invitation with kitschy clip art from my computer. 

(Is this the place to mention I had an infant when we did this party? Sometimes, the best birthday party is a simple birthday party.) (And if you have an infant, it helps to have a man willing to snuggle said infant while you scoop frozen yogurt. Amen.) 

The Rest:
This party was extremely popular with Connor and his friends, more popular than I would have predicted. They loved getting up on a Saturday morning and coming to a friends house in their pajamas. They loved eating breakfast together. They loved watching cartoons and playing Legos together. And the whole party was done before noon. That's the way to start a birthday.

Originally published October 2013