Child's first birthday invitation.

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 was, the 1st birthday invitations seemed a bit unnecessary. After all, the kid was just barely learning her first words.

But she seemed to know that something special was going on, and of course she loved having all the special 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 now understand the, 'extra special' meaning, of the 1st birthday invitation far better.

Human life is so precious and fragile, and none more fragile than the first year of life of a new baby. The first birthday party is somewhat of a vital 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 really celebrating the child's first birthday, as their successful first year of life.

Of course, one of the toughest things about getting a 1st birthday invitation is figuring out exactly what to get the infant as gift.

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 a very few months. Also knowing that the parents may not even like them anyway? Do you get them 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 could not exactly ask the baby, now could 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 didn't 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. It seems like I go very well indeed and it was a suitable, 'marker', in the life of that child.