Parties
Photo of the garland my kids made for our first Eid party.
Holidays are an important part of our lives. People celebrate in different ways, different holidays. Everyone has their own traditions, most of them just happen , they aren’t planned or intentional. It doesn’t matter, they are all equally special. I was born in the US. Growing up there as a Muslim, we saw people celebrating so many different holidays that we didn’t celebrate. Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Valentine’s day… The thing is, I never felt left out. I was never envious, or ever wished we celebrated these holidays too. In Islam we have two holidays: Eid Al Fitr, and Eid Al Adha. My mom made these two holidays so much fun for us. We had a great Muslim community. We had so many traditions. We looked forward to our holidays all year. So, we never felt like we were missing out! I’m so grateful for all the great memories of Eid growing up. Naturally I wanted to make Eid special for my kids too.
We started our own traditions when the kids were really young. We started throwing Eid parties and end of the school year parties. I’d let my kids choose the themes and we’d plan them together. When they were really young I’d print things they could color and cut them out and make garlands. I would let them help me make most of the decorations. We would even make a piñata together. I’d bake a cake and decorate according to the theme (and it almost always was a disaster because of last minute decorating! haha) We’d even get/ make snacks - food matching the theme. It was a lot of fun. As they grew older my boys lost some of their enthusiasm to actually make decorations but would still help choose the theme and plan. My daughter’s enthusiasm has increased with time and makes most of the decorations and desserts herself. When they were younger we’d invite all the cousins around their age, plus the mothers. (A lot of people!) COVID limited the numbers for a few parties and as the kids grew older it became harder accommodating all ages and preferences and we usually make the end of school party for the older cousins near my kids age and the Eid party for all cousins. It’s a lot of fun for me to plan with the kids. I love making the decorations and finding fun new games to play. We’ve played so many versions of “Pin the tail on the donkey” that its become forbidden on our list of games. We’ve also played so many different versions “corn hole” that it is also on the forbidden list.
When I started this tradition, I wanted to make Eid as fun and memorable as possible for my kids and the family. We usually spend the first day of Eid at home. (Since we live with my MIL) and family and friends will come to visit and celebrate the holiday with us. It was usually boring for the kids and after lunch we usually had a quiet period where there wouldn’t be any guests and the adults would take naps or sit quietly drinking coffee. (we wake up at dawn to go to Eid prayers so we are all up early. The kids usually take a nap in the morning after breakfast so they weren’t sleepy. So, I started gathering all the kids upstairs in my living room and throwing a party. I never knew how much joy it would bring and the entire family. It’s something I hope I will always be able to do.
I have learned over the years that the kids don’t care how perfect everything is, they enjoy the decorations and the yummy treats but what’s the most important is the games! Its starting to get harder to find fun games for the older kids but I’m always looking for inspiration. Pinterest is my best friend! I know now that 5 minute games are the most fun and let more people play in a short period of time. The games don’t have to follow the theme. Especially now that the kids are older, as long as its fun!
Last year I had promised them anAmong Us Party, but I had so much going on I was just too burnt out to plan it. I ended up throwing a pool party (minus the pool hahaha) I used a lot of games we had played at the first pool party I threw in 2017. None of them remembered the games and they had a blast.
Throughout the next two weeks I’ll take you with me while I plan, prepare and throw them an Among Us Party. Follow me on Instagram & Pinterest.
We’ve had lots of themes over the years Here is a list of them:
Eid Parties:
2012 Our first Eid party; no theme.
2013 Rainbow
2014 Under the sea
2015 Garden
2016 Safari
2017 Space
2018 Snow
2019 Around the world
2020 Candy
2021 Tropical
2022 Camping (again)
2022 (Eid Al Adha) Carninal
Usually for Eid Al Adha we don’t have a theme, last year was an exception.
End of school year:
2014 Cars + Disney Princess (our first party which was basically a store bought cake and two garlands)
2015 Pajama Party
2016 LEGO
2017 First Term: Camping
2017 Pool Party
2018 Dinosaur
2019 Escape room
2020 Online Zoom Party (we were on lockdown)
2021 A really simple pool party. ( Only 3 cousins)
2021 Haunted House Party (it was more of an in the middle of school party and we held it twice so we could invite different cousins (because of covid and family members with weak immune systems.) This was my favorite party!
2022 Pool Party
I will post photos of past parties soon. Excuse the bad resolution on some. (Most taken by my phone with the exception of some taken by my niece’s camera) I will add more photos in the future and more details about the parties. Feel free to ask me about any details.