I bought her a bouquet of balloons. She carried them around all day. She told me years later that she felt very special that I had done that for her. She was a little shy and I was glad that the attention wasn’t too much.

I bought balloons for my boyfriend’s son’s third birthday. I realized at the last minute that I was the one responsible for his party. We made hotdogs and a chocolate cake. I decorated the den with balloons and everyone had a great time.

Last year, my stepson started invitations that request no gifts. I have a hard time sending my son to parties empty handed. I decided that only two ways around the no gift request is to bring balloons or cookies.

In addition to always having balloons, my stepson also has sugar cookies on his birthday. I started using number shaped cookie cutters on his third to cut out 3s for him to have. This became a yearly tradition. I think I look forward to it as much as he does. This year I get to make 9s.

Birthday balloons are best if they are the regular colored balloons. I don’t mind one of the silver mylar balloons in a bouquet, but having a bunch of them is really tacky. I also think that balloons should be bought in multiple colors. Every color in the rainbow is my choice every time.