Herding cats. Or how to throw a kid’s party – part 1

Not appropriate for a three year old. And frankly, a little bit disturbing at any age?

I have been planning my son’s 3^rd birthday party basically since his 2^nd birthday. I know – what a nerd. But that won’t be news to anyone who knows me – I do love a drink good shindig. And as I have the most amazing memories of parties thrown by my mum, I guess I’m just trying to make sure my children have the same sort of memories. Of course, emulating my mother’s parties is a slippery slope. It’s only a hop step and a jump from similar parties to bridge games four times a week and antique shopping. Before we know it I’ll be posting about ten ways to improve your family tree (sorry Mum – I really am dying to see the results of the three thousand years of research you’ve done.)

Where was I? Oh yes – parties. Seriously, how can you not like kid’s parties? The mess, the screams, the tears – there’s something for everyone. Personally, I’m in it for the cake and the champagne. And the fairy bread – which I have discovered today is an Australian thing. Who knew? And if you are unaware of the JOYS of fairy bread – see here. In the meantime, here are my top tips:

1. Decide what kind of a party thrower you are. There is no point causing yourself an aneurism icing a pirate ship cake at 2 in the morning if you hate baking. Or if you work full-time and couldn’t think of anything more stressful than trying to find the perfect party bag for 22 messy 5 year olds. Or if the thought of those 22 messy 5 year olds in your house causes you to break out in a cleanliness-related rash. Give yourself complete permission to throw whatever the hell kind of party suits you – low key, home-made, shipped in, pretending home-made but really mostly straight from supermarket – whatever will make it fun for you and the kidlet.
2. Decide on number of people – this will affect everything else. We’ve done biggish parties with lots of adults and small amounts of kids, family-only events and your bog-standard kids parties. I’m not sure yet how I feel about the children-only parties that are in my future – wonderful for the guests, visions of out of control parentless children for the host? I might have to get back to you in a few years. I’m not going to advise on numbers, but I would say it depends a bit on the birthday child – not much fun to overwhelm a shy little thing with 50 kids, but the advice I have seen about inviting the same number of kids as your child’s age? God, poor little 2 year old playing pass the parcel with 2 kids? Tragic. Will not make for good pictures.
3. Home or not home? See above two factors plus time of year and make a decision. If not home, there are hundreds of venue options – from the classic park, to kid friendly restaurants, to church halls and gardens, to play centres and brothels. Wait.
4. Pick a theme. Or don’t. If they’re under 3, pick something easy (Teddy Bear’s Picnic/Ladybird/Car party) or just have a party. I promise, they won’t know. Frankly, first birthdays are all about celebrating that the parents made it through a whole year, so ship in the champagne and adults. For older kids, think about their favourite thing in the world (yes, I am aware that a gun party for my son would not be too popular) and plan accordingly. There are a zillion websites dedicated to finding a theme if you are lacking in inspiration.
5. Plan and buy the necessities – invitations, activities, decorations, food, party bags and The Cake (more on that in weeks to come). Make them as low-key or as fancy pants as you want. If your theme is Teddy Bear’s Picnic and you want to sling a few rugs on the ground and some stuffed bears around the room with some sandwiches cut out in teddy bear shapes – perfect. If you want a dinosaur party with matching bunting, stuffed party bags, life-sized stegosaurus cut outs and dinosaur jigsaw invitations – knock yourself out.  I know none of you lovely people would do this, but try not to have a party to impress or compete – you’ll kill yourself trying and it won’t be fun. Relaxed host=fun party. (Not so relaxed that you have ten drinks too many and forget to cook the main course – not that I would ever do that.)
6. Ask for some help. Even I can’t do everything, and I am AMAZING. Get someone else to take pictures, someone to help herd the cats children, hand out the food and clean up. People like helping. Me especially (still working on my nickname being Helpful Harriet – it doesn’t seem to be catching on).

Anyway, there’s a starting point.  There are so many amazing sites to do with kids parties. Here are just a few, if you have any more pointers or sites, please leave a comment below. We do not bite. Very often. Unless you bag or praise Gina.

Party organising

Babyology has done some fantastic posts on party planning.

Angels and Urchins also has some amazing resources if you’re in the UK.

Netmums has some good info

Inspiration

http://www.tipjunkie.com/300-birthday-parties/

http://creativepartyplace.com/

http://www.thepartydress.net/

http://www.pepperdesignblog.com/?tag=kids-party

http://www.pizzazzerie.com/category/parties/childrens-parties/

http://www.banterandfrolic.com.au/main/page_home.html

http://ilovepartiesaustralia.blogspot.com/

http://karaspartyideas.blogspot.com/

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