Today is the day after a preschool birthday party. I’m exhausted but happy. There are six things, takeaways, I took away from preparing and planning for it which helped decrease my amount of stress.
1. Be realistic with your planning. Since it is the holidays and hubby is away “on an extended business trip”, I wanted to make sure our daughter had a memorable birthday. I planned for two parties, one at an indoor playground a couple of weeks before her birthday and another smaller, more intimate one here at home on her birthday weekend.
Reality check: If you have a small home, can it really accommodate your child’s entire class? If it is lovely weather and you can have a backyard party that fits the whole neighborhood, you are lucky! I am not that lucky. We are in the midst of cold and wet weather season now. Since I didn’t want to exclude any of the kids in her class, I planned for a separate party at an indoor playground during the Thanksgiving long weekend where the kids could play off some of their energy. I invited 20 kids to Rambazamba and as I expected, about half made it with their parents. While we had a few empty seats at the table which was set up by the playground staff, I had just the right amount of cake ordered and the parents could order from off the menu if they wanted food.
One reason to have it at an indoor playground or activity center is that set up and cleanup is minimal. I was able to go around and play with my child, but whenever I had to tend to some party detail like ensure there were enough drinks on the tables or pay the bill at the end, there was always another parent nearby who could keep an eye on my child for a few minutes. Some like our local Rambazamba also allow you to bring the birthday cake but all other food and drink needs to be purchased on site. Basically, your guests will have a blast and parents will thank you for wearing out their little ones.
If you choose to have it at home, read further…
2. Be flexible. I caught a stomach bug during the days before her actual birthday and birthday party here at home. So a couple of days before, I had to make the tough decision to postpone it by a weekend since I had to call the cake decorator before she started baking our Hello Kitty themed cake for 20. I also had to turn to social media (Facebook), email, Skype and phone calls to relay the postponement to guests’ parents. Since it was home and the guest list was smaller, the administrative nightmare was minimal. Some of our guests who were unable to make it the first weekend were happily able to attend the rescheduled date. All in all, we had 6 little girls, 1 little boy, and a baby. Add the adults and I had just under 20 guests in our little home on the hill. Quite manageable indeed!
3. Keep decor to a minimum and work it into your current layout. This is for your home based parties. Since it is the holiday season, I have decorated the home a bit already. Other than the Hello Kitty layout around the dining area, that’s about it.
4. Let kids be kids. The party should be centered around the guest of honor. Some parents can schedule every facet of a birthday party. Where there is a time and a place for that, like a wedding for instance, a 4 year old’s party is not, in my opinion, one that can be tightly scheduled. Go with the flow!
Keep the menu simple. I ordered pizza and lasagna from a local pizzeria and that arrived about an hour into the party, perfect timing. I had snacks and drinks available in the meantime. Since we have an open layout, mingling is natural. I was getting ready to make chili too but after all the pizza arrived, I’m glad I didn’t. One of our guests brought some yummy pasta salad too so that was a perfect touch! Maybe next year I will go all out and make everything for the party, but this year, it was just too much to do!
As the first little guests arrived, they all headed up to my daughter’s room which is full of different things to play with and a full size bed to play on too. Emphasis on play. If you already have it organized, just breathe after the party and LET IT GO. (Playroom or bedroom clean up can wait if it is too overwhelming. Pour yourself a glass of wine…that’s what I had to do or else give myself a migraine)
5. Have backup plans. In this case, have indoor activities planned if the weather outside is frightful. In our case, I didn’t have the trampoline uncovered simply because it was sprinkling throughout the day. But when the number of kids dwindled to four and the kids needed an activity to do, I brought out some rock painting kits that they could do.
If you have an arts and crafts nook at home, you can come up with your own ideas to keep little hands and minds busy while indoors. Not once did the TV go on, although I did try to put the Christmas Story on at one point for background noise for the adults (the DVD player wasn’t cooperating). Or you can be prepped to make muffins or cupcakes too.
6. Ask for help! In my case, I asked our family sitter/mum’s helper to help clean up and set up, especially since I was still feeling a bit under the weather with a chest cold. Plus, it takes twice as long to do anything when you’re also keeping the birthday girl busy too. An extra set of hands is very helpful indeed!
The most important thing to remember is to have fun, both as guests and as hosts. And take lots of photos! (Thanks, Matt Shea, for the featured image!)
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