Getting Through : A Child’s Birthday Party Should Be Fun
Organizing your child’s birthday party can appear to be a very daunting experience for any parent but for your child it can seem to be the most important day of her year. For the first two years of her life you are able to organize exactly what you want for your child as she had no opinion as to what she wants. But once her third birthday appears on the horizon low and behold your child has her own ideas of what she wants. Her choices will be influenced by the parties she has attended, particularly the most recent ones.
You have to create a guest list, organize the food, provide entertainment and look after the parents. You yourself are influenced by the parties you have been to and do not want the other parents to judge you and find your party lacking.
1. The most important thing is that your child enjoys her party.
It’s not the end of the world if the all the napkins, clothes, cups and plates don’t match and the food is not the most expensive. It’s much more important that all the children have fun. Plan the party thinking about fun.
2. Start early
Don’t leave organizing things till the last moment and get stressed out about it but start early and do a little at a time. Starting early is particularly important if you are going to hire an entertainer because they often get booked up early.
3. Don’t be pushed by your child, preschool or nursery into having every child in the class.
One of the teachers at my local preschool told the parents that every child in the class should be invited to every party otherwise it was not fair. This placed pressure on the parents to invite more children than they really wanted to. Don’t be pushed into having more children than you feel comfortable with and the location and finances can handle.
4. Decide the maximum number of children before you talk to your child
If you have a set number in mind you are less likely to be pushed into having many more children than you really feel comfortable with. You may want to start discussions at a lower number and be open to negotiating with your child.
5. Know and allocate your budget before you start
Do you want to spend most of your budget on an entertainer? Have really upmarket party bags? If you have a budget roughly allocated to each part of the party spending is less likely to get out of control. Do not give in to your child’s tantrums or sulks and spend more than you want to. A party that costs very little can be as much fun as one that costs a lot of money even when you kids wants personalized backyardigans invitations.
6. Get family and friends involved
Have more than enough help organized well before the day, someone is bound to be ill on the day and not able to help. Allocate jobs in advance and have someone who can fill in and help with anything.
7. Make the games short
Children have short attention spans and a party is an exciting event. Bored kids can run wild and cause trouble. Try and make sure that everyone wins something; this may involve a little cheating.
8. Have a quieter activity during the party
Think about a craft or other quieter activity that the children will enjoy. A good time to do this activity is before the food and after they have had some noisier activities. This works really well and the children enjoy taking the finished article home. You will need to have organized some people to help.
9. Keep control and have fun
You may be very tempting to loosen your parental control after all this is a party and supposed to be a fun. Don’t do it. Fun does not equate with lack of control, in fact children have more fun if there are boundaries. Join in the activities and have fun yourself and get other adults who stay involved in the fun.
10. Get some to help clean up afterwards
Cleaning up after the party can be one of the worst parts of the party. Organize this well before the party day and get a friend or pay local teenager to help you. Allocate jobs to family and friends a couple of days before the event and even write them down and have them attached to the refrigerator or other surface so you are don’t have to remember once the party is finished.
Above all a party should be fun and EVERYONE should enjoy it.