A child's first birthday party is a special time, but not just for the child.  In reality, parents send out first birthday party invitations because they want other people to come and share in their joy.   The first time I received a 1st birthday invitation, I thought it was kind of a silly gesture to be honest.  The thing is, 1st birthday invitations  seemed so unnecessary.  After all, the kid was just barely learning her first words.  She kind of seemed to know that something special was going on, and of course she loved having all the attention, but attention was nothing new to her being a baby.  So why go through all the effort of having nice fancy 1st birthday invitation, anyway?

Now that I have kids of my own, I understand the 1st birthday invitation
better.  Human life is so fragile, and none more fragile than the life of a new baby.  The first birthday party is somewhat of a milestone in any child's life.  Most cases of infant mortality, after all, happen within the first year nowadays, so by sending out a 1st birthday party invitation, the parents are not only ce

lebrating the child's first birthday, but also the very fact that he or she has made it that far.

Of course, one of the toughest things about getting a 1st birthday invitation is figuring out exactly what to get.  If you are new to these things, it can be tricky to say the least.  Do you get clothes for the kid, even knowing that he or she will outgrow them within several months, and that the parents may not like them anyway?  Do you get toys?  Games?  A mobile for the crib, perhaps?  I thought they could have at least given some kind of hints on the 1st birthday invitation, but there was no clue at all what the parents would appreciate as a present for the kid.  And I can not exactly ask the baby, now can I?

Well, I finally settled on getting him an electronic toy.  It makes music whenever you hit it, which I think a lot of kids like.  If the parents did not think that it was a good first birthday party present, they sure did not say anything.  They seem to appreciate it, and anyway the decorations were great as was the cake.  I don't know why getting that 1st birthday invitation set me off, but it seems like I got all worked up over nothing.