We celebrated my son’s second birthday last weekend with a Paris-themed party, complete with Eiffel Tower-shaped cookies and plenty of the delicious food and pastries France is known for. This little guy is obsessed with the Eiffel Tower! Or the “idol” as he adorably calls it. :)
C had so much fun at his party, and I’m so thankful for all of our friends and family who came to celebrate our 2-year-old! But … this actually isn’t a birthday party post at all. It’s a post about the day that Paris was both so close and so far away.
A few weeks ago, we were supposed to be boarding a plane to France, and then a terribly unfortunate series of incidents happened the day before and the day of our departure that ultimately prevented us from traveling abroad. Talk about the worst possible timing. It was devastating.
I spent so much time researching, planning, booking, packing … you name it. I was prepared for a transatlantic flight—by myself—with a toddler. I was beyond thrilled to visit the City of Light and my dear friend who lives there. C and I were looking forward to seeing her after our many video chats working out the details. And I was crushed when I had to cancel our plans and undo all the pieces of a trip that we had our hearts set on. Literally within hours of needing to leave for the airport. I’m such an emotional person, and I was being pulled in many different directions with many different opinions about our trip. In the end, I felt like I let a lot of people down. There’s no graceful way to say this: I spent a lot of the day crying in bed, wallowing in my disappointment. Not my best moment.
I think the worst part is that I got my son so excited to go. He shows me how big he thinks the Eiffel Tower is multiple times a day and lights up when he sees it. “My idol!” he’ll exclaim. I introduced him to macarons before our trip, and now they’re his new favorite. He’s constantly asking for “more mac-roms pease, Mama?” He enjoyed when we would practice the new French words we learned. When we talked about the characters we might see at Disneyland Paris, he would show me what he would do when he saw them—bounce just like Tigger, give Minnie Mouse a hug.
As a mom, it’s heartbreaking to have to tell your child that we’re no longer going to do something that we talked about every day for months. I know he’s only 2 and won’t remember any of it ultimately, but he understands it now. And, in that moment, he was just as upset as I was. Hearing cries of “No, no, Mama. Mama Baby go Pare!” wasn’t easy. (Hopefully you could translate all that toddler speak!)
I do hope to still get to Paris one day. In fact, my husband promised we would and that he would go with us this time, so he better not let us down. ;) I’m so fortunate to have seen so much of Europe already, and Paris is one of the cities I’ve yet to visit that my wandering soul must see. In the meantime, I tried extra-hard to bring a little bit of Paris here for my son’s birthday celebration, and I think he approved! Perhaps he thought we went on our trip after all. :)
Love this picture, he looks so happy.
Sorry you didn’t get on your trip – hope you get there soon!
Thank you, Joanna! Me too ♥
What a lovely photo! So crisp and bright! Love his little top too! He’s one funky kid xx
Thank you! :D
I’m so sorry your trip was cancelled what a terrible disappointment. But well done on bringing Paris to your little boy for his birthday. I love the photo and how the Eiffel tower is repeated on his top. I really hope you get to Paris soon.
I really appreciate your lovely comments, Anne. Thank you! xo
What a great photo! So lovely
Thanks! And thanks for visiting!
Beautiful photo, he looks so very happy.
Thank you for linking up
He is a happy little boy :) Thank you!
I hope he will get to visit the Eiffel tower one day what a lovely theme for a party and happy birthday to him.
Thanks for the birthday greeting, Fiona! I think he’ll be amazed at how big the Eiffel Tower actually is when he finally does get to see it! xo
Wonderfully written piece, Sharisse. So sorry your trip didn’t go as planned : (
Thank you so very much, Karen ♥
Even though y’all didn’t get to go across the pond, his party was like a mini Paris! You did such a great job momma! Know that God has perfect timing for everything! Know He is on your side :) You have a beautiful, happy little boy and he is so lucky to have parents like y’all! Xoxo
You are the sweetest, and I appreciate your reassuring words so much! xoxo
What a fun birthday theme. I love it. Of course I went to Paris in high school and have been a bit obsessed with the Eiffel tower ever since! I have Eiffel tower table lamps and a tree ornament; just to name a few things.
I love that you have a little Eiffel Tower collection! Paris seems like a city that would always stick with you. I think you’ll like seeing how my son’s Paris party turned out when I post the pictures :) We had a lot of Eiffel Tower decorations!
My son is so into the Eiffel Tower as well. He saw it from a program go jetters and didn’t forget it since! Such a lovely thing to be obsessed with. #mysundayphoto
Ah, so cute! I love that your son is so into the Eiffel Tower too. Of all the things in the world, I think a landmark is a pretty cool thing to be obsessed with :)
Ah I hope you get there one day, I am sure you will. Sometimes for whatever reason things are just not meant to be x
So very true. I’m sure it will all work out when the time is right :)
Aww poor little one. Still it looks like you brightened up his birthday with all the delicacies of France. #mysundayphoto
I hope so, Helena :) He sure did enjoy all the French food!
Oh no how disappointing! I know what you mean you feel so much worse for your kids than you do for yourself. I hope you get to go to Paris very soon and can rearrange all your plans. Love the cute little picture of C, he looks very happy and not affected at all ; )
Thanks as always for linking up to #MyCapturedMoment xx
Thank you so very much for your sweet words, Heledd! xo
I am so sorry you couldn’t go on your trip, but hopefully you will get the chance to visit Paris soon. The Paris-themed birthday party sounds like so much fun. I bet your little boy had a brilliant time (Happy second birthday!). #MyCapturedMoment
Thank you, Heidi! He did have such a great time! Hopefully I can get those party pictures posted soon :)