birthday parties

It used to be easy with my daughter:

whenever her birthday came I just took her somewhere special and have a family day out ( fun fair , Disney , Zoo , park) now thats she has been invited to birthday parties she's wanting her own with her friends 

I do birthday entertaining .. some of the time it's mums trying to outdo each other at least that's the case in the coven of northside mums  .. : The worst thing is that her birthday is during summer break (aug 18th) so most go on holiday....if I sort out a party I doubt many will turn up so why waste the money  so how do you mums out there survive party organizing hell 

btw: I've just came back from a spectacular 5th birthday disco/magic dance party for my daughter's friend...on the walk back it was jess saying

"she's so lucky she had a great birthday party" 

I've had some good parties in the past-some of the best were A Teddy Bear's Picnic(5), A 3 mile hike (7) and a fairy party(5).  Now that I'm working I confess to just booking a party at the local leisure center and letting them do the chasing.   

I'm still seeing taking her to Disneyland paris more enjoyable and more cost effective 

I've just read this:

Extravagant mums and dads now see the fifth birthday of their little ones as an anniversary worth splashing out on, with half of the 3,500 parents surveyed by smile internet bank, admitting that 'they plan to or have spent' up to £500 on their child's fifth birthday party.

The average spend by parents on their child's fifth birthday bash was found to be £185.93 per child. Given that there were a total of 688,200 live births in 1999, it is likely that British parents will have spent nearly £128million on fifth birthday do's this year as their children leave toddlerhood behind
 

Really?  I'm not always sure I believe polls like that.  I'd probably say that parents here (middle-class, educated) spend about £100-150.  You do occasionally go to a party where they've really splashed out with an entertainer, but never anything like that.  I usually try and succeed at keeping it under a hundred. 

You're a mom after my own heart, Alicia.  I hated birthday parties.  They always made me feel so embarrassed and 'on stage'.  But I went to a small, all-girls private primary school and they were de rigeur.  I'd much rather have travelled and was sooo happy when, at age 8, my father finally asked if I might prefer a special trip.  Yes, please!  And we went to New Orleans for a weekend that was the most fun in my life then.

My daughter is also born during the break, so I'm hoping to do the trip thing as well.

I'd rather do the trip thing as well, but, if you don't have parties-you don't get invited to parties.  And that's really, really important.  I know it's gruelling.  But it's one of life's necessities.

With a summer born child, however, you may just be able to skirt around the issue!

I hope you dont mind a father joining in. My daughters birthday is Aug 20th. We have to have her parties early Sept just after the kids come back from summer break. If we didnt alot of her friends would not make it.  As kids get older the parties seem to get smaller. She will be ten this year and she says she wants a sleep over with about five of her close friends.
Here in Blackheath some of the parents also try to out-do one another. I think they also try to find something different. We have done bowling , kiddie discos,hired bouncy castles and such. It does get costly but they are only young once. If you search on the net there are all kinds of places like museums and such that do kids parties.

john

thanks all the input puts things in perspective ...my mum did splash out on parties when I was little ...I hated them...she picked out the cake, who was going , where , when ...never asked me anything. While my dad just took me out on the day and spent the day with me. I can remember more what my dad and I did on my birthdays than my mum's (except one which was a pool party)

Compared to the parties I've been to I tend to see about £10-14 spent per child. Mindy you are right if you don't do parties your child doesn't get invited to parties ...grr. I've asked her if she wanted to go to disney paris or have a  party in the garden and yep , party in the garden is what she wants....damn.

I know.  Thing is, every parent out there would probably rather do the trip thing.  But, you gotta do it, unless you want your child to be the one who's not invited to any parties.  Trust me on this one. 

I can tell you that the fairy-party I had with that age group was a great and not too expensive party.  The best party we ever had was a three mile hike with ten 6 and 7 year olds.  We hardly spent anything and they LOVED it. 

You name it, we've probably had it.  11 year olds bowling-a disaster.  9 year olds swimming-pretty good. 10 year olds at a sleep-over-ummmmmm, no comment.     10 year olds at Lazer Quest-fun and sweaty.    And it's true, at every party there is one kid that drives you flippin' crazy. 

We've been to various bowling parties, entertainers, bouncy castles, etc.   A couple of parents braved having a party at home and did:

a medieval party fancy dress party - boys as knights, girls as ladies.  There were lots of games organized.  I think one of the games included the dad who was a very good sport; they put him in "the stocks" and threw water balloons at him.

another mom had a treasure hunt party.  It cost her very little.  She and her husband hid clues and prizes around their garden and then out through a footpath in the village...  the kids followed the clues and at the end, there was a "grand" prize for each kid, since they all worked together to get to the end.

We're having a party for DD in two weeks (She's 8 ).  We're doing a Mexican Fiesta.  We've got a piñata, I'm making virgin piña coladas and virgin margaritas (minus the salt) for the kiddies, along with wraps, tortilla chips, some sandwiches (for the kids that don't like the wraps) and ice cream cone cakes.  In addition to the piñata, we're going to play some balloon games, guess the number of jelly beans in the jar (the person who is closest gets to take home the jar of beans) and some other stuff, all in the back garden.  I am not hiring a bouncy anything and I am not spending a fortune.  We've always thrown parties like this (themed and cheap) and they go down well with the other kids. 

I always ask my DD what she wants to do for her birthday, and she gives me suggestions and we go from there.  The kids always have a great time.  I don't give a toss what the parents think.  They're not the ones who are attending the party.

humm ...I did a bit of web trolling and since jess is into mermaids might do an under the sea party.  I thought maybe have the party the last weekend before the break up of school in July - would that be naff since her birthday in on Aug 18 I am sure there will be less people turning up and also take advantage of the sunshine rather than in Sept  where there might be a possibility of a bunch of her friends going into year one.




Edit to say: I just foum a wholesale lot of sea monkey kits those would be great goody bag gifts  lord help me

OH! OH! You can get Swedish Fish in the Cyber Candy shop in Covent Garden!  And then you could make Under the Sea Cupcakes!

I've gotten some GREAT party ideas here

www.familyfun.com

cheers

I think I can decorate our garden with balloons , fishes and nets. and have crafty games - My mother is coming for her birthday so I have her to help me since she loves this stuff...I think Jess is more into it than I would have been when I was her age. There's pictures of my birthday parties looking grumpy and hiding behind something