The Good, The Bad, and the Expensive

From "simple" parties at home that take years off of parents' lives through stress, to "elaborate" parties at a venue where someone else does all the work,Elpas Readers detect and forward 'Location' and 'State' data from Elpas Active RFID Tags to host besticcard platforms. the birthday party scene can be a bit of a horror show. Sure, the kids love 'em, but what about us parents?

This week, the Parents YAP about their birthday party experiences, including what worked, what didn't, and what we'd like to do with all of that goodie bag loot.

Im sure Im not alone when I say that I have a love-hate relationship with birthday parties. Of course I want to mark each milestone in my childrens lives and make them feel showered with attention and affection. I want to create joyful, memorable experiences, and for them to know that they are celebrated and cherished. But that doesnt make planning the parties any easier.Compare prices and buy all brands of luggagetag for home power systems and by the pallet.

I remember when my oldest turned one, we invited our entire extended family, including aunts, uncles, and grandparents, to a party at our tiny Cape house. There were 40-odd people there for a one-year-old who didnt even know she was having a birthday. Fast forward to our fourth baby, who had a much smaller affair with our close family. It didnt take us too long to realize that there are no shortage of opportunities to go big for the birthday parties, and that we should pace ourselves with each child.

Enter the age of the Friend Party. Now the parties become more challenging. Our kids are extremely lucky to have lots of cousins who are also their friends, as well as grandparents who are just as much at home at a circus as they are in our living room, so weve always been able to combine friend and family parties into a single event. Still, todays birthday parties are much bigger than the ones we had as kids. Parties used to be some games, cake, and opening presents with a few friends and neighborhood kids. These days 20-25 kids seems to be the norm, the standard for enjoyment higher, the cost much greater. There seems to be a choice between a pricey packaged birthday party, or a labor-intensive, creative party at home involving lots of planning.

The easiest parties weve had have been at Jump On In. Is there nothing better than one giant room filled with bouncy houses, where kids can run around, burn some energy, and have a blast? (Jerry Seinfeld called these portable insane asylums for children.) Weather is never an issue, no planned activities are required, and a couple of teenaged girls will serve the pizza and cake and then clean up. True, these parties are expensive, but they are always a hit and easy to plan. I am a firm believer in the outsourcing of fun.You can order besthandsfreeaccess cheap inside your parents.

My seven-year-old daughters birthday happens to be Halloween. Rather than resenting that her birthday falls on a major kid-oriented holiday, she relishes this fact. She is our only child who has always insisted on having her parties at our house. Each year,Compare prices and buy all brands of luggagetag for home power systems and by the pallet. she clamors for a Halloween-themed, at-home party. These parties are inevitably more challenging,We have a wide selection of handsfreeaccess to choose from for your storage needs. as we struggle to come up with activities to entertain the kids. However, Im blessed to have a mother-in-law who thrives on these sorts of challenges, and who is more than happy to take the lead on party games and crafts. We believe that these at-home parties will be the most memorable ones.

One thing Im unaccountably proud of is making my own birthday cakes. I dont know why I feel that my childrens cakes all have to be home made; Im sure they would be just as happy eating cupcakes from the grocery store, and goodness knows how much time that would save me. But Ive made them all, with one notable exception involving a failed swimming pool cake soaked in not-yet-solidified blue Jello (saved by a last-minute trip to Cold Stone creamery). Im certainly no professional decorator, but my kids are always impressed, and I hope that they will look back and appreciate the fact that their Mom baked their cakes.

Then of course, is my birthday party nemesis: the dreaded Goody Bag. I dont know where children got the idea that after being shown a great time playing games, painting plaster, jumping on equipment, and stuffing themselves with pizza and cake, they are then entitled to a bag full of prizes, but I suspect that we parents have something to do with it. On a couple of occasions Ive heard disappointed youngsters asking, Isnt there a goody bag? shortly after wiping the last bit of frosting from their mouths. Ive talked to many parents, and we all agree: no one wants the tiny plastic toys scattered about their houses, no one wants more junk food, and yet we all perpetuate this Goody Bag Entitlement Syndrome. I certainly dont want my kid to be the one whose birthday party didnt come with goody bags. So, I try to minimize the damage by putting in fruit snacks instead of Skittles (is this really better?) and trying to keep the bags small. On a few occasions weve given out a single favor instead of goody bags (a puzzle, some sidewalk chalk), and this seems to have worked out well. I know I appreciate it when other parents do this, too. I would love to be able to hand each child a card that says, A donation has been made in your name to (insert charity here). So far I havent had the guts to do it, but what a wonderful lesson in giving it would be for our kids if parents banded together and started this tradition (a Giving Bag?).

My kids are two years and five days apart. In December. Yes, poor planning, indeed. December is both a pricey and busy month. With a season of spending from fall through winter that kicks off in mid-October with my niece's birthday, slides into Halloween, skips along to my nephew's November birthday, tumbles into Thanksgiving, shimmies to my daughter's birthday, sneaks to my son's, and ultimately crashes headlong into Christmas, I have neither the time nor the money to throw two friend birthday parties at any time near my kids' actual birthdays.

So, I wait until March for their parties when it's far more convenient for me. Some may call it selfish and lazy, but I call it ingenious. And I've even convinced my kids it's best for them to wait too. It's less chaotic! It spreads out the presents! More friends will be available! I'll have more time to make a really freakin' awesome cake! You see, I have a marketing degree, and I have used all of its power on my children to sell them on this idea. (I guess all those student loans really were worth it!)

Unfortunately, this year got a little away from me. It's now the end of April and we're in the planning stages of two birthday parties. At age seven (and a quarter), this will be my son's last "invite the whole class" kind of party. He's going to have a bash at his dojo, Defensive Edge in Wakefield, where the kids can run around like crazy people for an hour or more in a padded room, run by a pair of fun and fabulous senseis. And when it's all over, my boy can cut his 7(and a quarter)-year zombie birthday cake with a real samurai sword. Super cool.

My daughter's birthday party will be delayed until late May, when she will be almost half-way to ten. Whoops! I told her we could do something to celebrate with a handful of her girlfriends. She's chosen a slumber party. With 5 guests. Yes, that means six nine-year-olds giggling until 3AM. But I'm (almost) looking forward to it. We'll order pizzas. They'll watch movies. They'll play truth-or-dare. They'll paint their toenails. They'll have a pillow fight. They'll do all kinds of cheap stuff. And they'll do it all largely without me. Now that's what I call a party!