The Party

So the after all the planning and agonising the party has been and gone.  Overall it was a great success and my son enjoyed himself.  There were a few unexpected surprises though!

First is the help girl.  This was a six year old girl who wanted to help with everything rather than participate in the party.  Every time I turned around there she was smiling up at me asking what she can do.  I am slightly ashamed to admit that all I wanted was for someone to take this bloody child away and let me get on with being hostess.

Then there was the runaway.  I actually felt really sorry for him but still my son's enjoyment was my priority and he was making it hard.  He was dropped off by a boy of about 12 who left no contact details in case of a problem.  Every other parent that dropped a child off gave us their details.  The problem was he kept running away, I mean out of the hall and down the road!  My husband chased after him numerous times and even spent half an hour trying to walk this boy home!  He was eventually picked up by the same boy that dropped him off.

These are the things that no one tells you about otherwise no child would ever have a birthday party.  My husband has made it clear to our daughter that she is not having one until she is six.  She will be four in July.

There is also the stress of being the best hostess ever to all the school gate mums that I detest so much.  If you have read previous posts you will understand why!  There was no way I was giving them anything to moan about.  As I thrust the rather overloaded party box into each child’s hand at the end all I could think was beat that!  So childish but I can't help it.

As far as my son was concerned it was the best party ever so I consider that a job well done.  I am not going to do it again for a few years though!

Party Bags

At some point during my party planning I came to looking at party bags.  Now, when I was a kid these party bags were basically bags of crap with a slice of birthday cake, my how things have changed!

Now they seem to be another thing that as parents we are measured by.  It is all about party bag snobbery and keeping up with the Jones' nowadays.

As this is my first attempt at organising a birthday party for my soon to be 6 year old son I did a bit of research on various parenting forums and the like to find out how go about it all.  This is when I came across a party bag thread discussing what people are putting in them, and I discovered a whole new world of rivalry.

Prior to reading this particular thread my idea was along the lines of a Power Ranger loot bag containing a balloon, a piece or birthday cake, a small bag of Haribos and a small cheap plastic toy of some sort.  Like I said, earlier a bag of crap with a slice of birthday cake.  After reading this thread it is clear I am going to have to buck my ideas up!

Some people actually put books in them, now surely that is going a bit far isn't it?

Realising the inadequacy of what I had planned I got searching on ebay for ideas.  Firstly a loot bag was no good at all, no it had to be a party box a la happy meal but a bit smaller.  These are slightly more expensive but hey think of the kudos points!  I have bought plain ones that I am going to print Power Ranger labels to stick on.

Then there is the contents.  So far I have:

• Power Ranger sticker
• Small tub of playdoh
• A rocket balloon
• A cupcake

I am also planning on buying bouncy balls and Haribos to put in them.  The Haribos might not make it though as I might eat those myself!  I should explain that the tubs of playdoh were bought for christmas but both my husband and I bought the same thing so this is bit of a cheat really.  The cupcake is because I have looked at getting a birthday cake big enough to feed 30 kids and they wanted £70 so we are going to buy a small cake and put cupcakes in the party boxes.

As yet I have not actually added up how much this has cost as I think it would freak me out, however I have been totally sucked into party bag or in my case party box snobbery and for some weird reason that I don't fully understand, determined to impress my sons peers parents.  It would also be good for my son to be the cool kid for one day!

I do not know why I feel the need to ensure his boxes are the best boxes that his friends have ever seen but I have shown some constraint - there are no books!