FEELINGS.
I was prepared to be all "but my baybyyyyyyy!" about Goldie's second birthday - I've done this once or twice before, as you may recall - and so this time I came prepared with a mandate: I would remember to take a minute every once in awhile to stop being a hostess and just be with my kids. It's so easy, when you're the one throwing a party, to get caught up in cooking and serving drinks and answering the door and making sure you talk to everyone...and then boom: the whole thing is over and everyone is gone and the dishes need doing, and you realize that you just spent the past several hours running around like the proverbial chicken and completely forgot to notice what was happening.
You want the day back.