Great Birthday Party Tips

At your wits end and needing some great birthday party tips?

Scrapping your children’s birthday parties can’t happen without the party! (That’s ’scrapping’ as in making a scrapbook page, not ‘ditching’ the party altogether, lol.)

Seriously though, what goes through your head when you hear the words ‘birthday party’?

Love ‘em or dread ‘em, they’re a fact of life with children in the family, especially younger ones. We have some great tips to get you through it without hitting the tranquilizers! And maybe even enjoying it in the process.

First off is a video then some tips from other moms, and after the party comes the scrapbooking so we have a couple of birthday layout ideas, too.

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by Alicia Rockmore from getbuttonedup.com

 

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Birthday Party Tips

Birthday Tip 1.

“How often do we bite off more than we can chew?” says Yolanda. “We make a decision and stick to it even if it’s going to kill us.”

“My number one tip would be: be flexible,” she says. “A little flexibility prevents ulcers - on the home front as well as in business.”

 

Birthday Tip 2.

Don’t try to do it on your own - enlist some help

Helena had all the girls in her daughter’s class coming to her 6th birthday party in their home. Her own children were high as kites - had been for several days. Helena was so worn out and stressed getting everything ready that by the time the children started arriving for the party, she was about to collapse in tears if anyone so much as looked at her the wrong way. Several children had been dropped off and the noise level was increasing.

Thankfully when her friend Robin arrived she noticed the symptoms and took charge. Helena got a little time to recover and was then able to join in and between them the party was a great success.

“Why do we struggle on, on our own? Why do we have to be so independent?” Helena groaned. “Robin is a school teacher and used to coping with a class of children. If I’d just asked her for help earlier I may not have got into the mess I was in.” Then added, “There are a number of families in my church from Nigeria, and it has been such an eye-opener to see them do things together - they all just pitch in and help … from noticing the baby needs a diaper changed and doing it, to stopping a child who is up to mischief, to working together in the kitchen or at the birthday parties! No one asks, it’s just assumed on both sides.”

We don’t all have family members nearby to help, but we could be more involved with each other and help out, couldn’t we?

How? Well, if you love to bake and cook but hate doing children’s party games, and your friend is great at children’s party games but hates to cook … is there a solution to both your problems there?

 

Birthday Tip 3.

Keeping up with the Jones, the Smiths, the Flemings, the Vanderbilts …

There’s a lot of pressure on us (and our children) to do things a certain way. Keeping up with the Jones’ - don’t be silly I’d never teach my child to do that … would I?

If we can’t recognize the problem there’s no hope that our children will learn to be and do things differently - and not be afraid to.

“There’s a very sensible verse in the Bible,” Irina told me. “It says, ‘Don’t conform, doing as everyone else does, but allow God to show you what is really important and good and then you’ll know what to get on with.’ Well that’s a very rough translation,” she laughed, “but you get the point.”

“I try to stop and think now, just what really has to be done to celebrate my children’s birthdays. What can we afford this year? How many children can we realistically invite, or should it just be family this time round?” Irina said.

Don’t over-stretch the budget. If your son wants everyone in his class to attend then do something at home or in the public park rather than at the theme park. It doesn’t do your blood pressure any good to still be paying for last year’s party as the next one approaches.

 

Oh, and by the way, you can say ‘No’ to a child. As moms we want to give them everything we can, but we are often inclined to give them everything we can’t - afford that is - too. The brain has to rule the heart, and the children will be the better for learning to budget or save for things and to look forward in anticipation of the day they will have enough to buy what they want. Instant gratification is ok occasionally, but can build up trouble for the future.

We can’t always have what we want in life. Life is unfair. Yes, he has more money than me; she is prettier. It does not mean I or my children are of less value. We are all different. If we can learn these things in the safe environment of a secure and loving home, we are better able to cope as adults.

Ok, I’ll get off my hobby horse. I’m so concerned for our society that spells love, ‘m-o-n-e-y’.

 

Birthday Tip 4.

Include your child in the decision making

Talk to her and discuss what she would like and what you can afford and come to a balanced arrangement that will be fun yet within your budget.

They will learn a lot from it and it will build your relationship.

 

Birthday Tip 5.

Plan ahead

“I am one of the most last-minute people you will ever meet,” Jenny Lee told me. “It sometimes seems I am incapable of getting a thing finished without a deadline - and it has to be a real drop-dead limit … my brain knows when it’s not and refuses to function until it has to! So you will usually find me stressed out still preparing and panicking with a couple of hours to go.”

I know what she means but have learned that just a little foresight will go a long way to reducing stress levels. For example:

• Make a general plan that, with the minimum of tweaking, will cover most eventualities this year, next year and for different occasions and ages.
• Gather a few recipes, especially ones that freeze well, age-related party game ideas, etc and store in a folder or book for easy reference.
• Don’t go overboard with the food, many younger children can be fussy eaters so just consider a few basics and a cake or cupcakes.
• Make a plan for preparing the basics, pin it up where you can see it and tick off things as they get done.
• Use your freezer if you have one. Did you know that cakes are easier to decorate when frozen? You don’t get all the crumbs mixing in with the frosting. Do remember to slice it in half if you will add a filling that cannot freeze, and cut any shaping necessary before freezing.

(Uh-oh! I’ve just remembered I have a carrot cake in the freezer at the moment and I forgot to cut it to shape. Now I’ll have to allow extra time for it to defrost before I can decorate it with the cream cheese frosting tomorrow. I really should take my own advice, shouldn’t I? LOL.)

 

Birthday Tip 6.

Buck the trends

“One of my pet hates?” asks Diane, “Party bags!” (The bag of gifts you give every child to take home. They may be called something different where you live.)

“I rebelled!” Diane added. “You’d spend a lot of money on top of the party costs getting little gifts to fill those bags and some children were so ungrateful. I refused to spend any more on them and if the child turned his nose up he was not invited again. I eventually stopped giving them.”

However, if you follow Alicia’s idea in the video you can get the children to make their own. Saving you time, hassle and expense.

 

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Birthday Layout Ideas:

1. Any paper can be birthday background paper, just add birthday specific embellishments to transform it to a birthday layout
2. Consider a collage of photos on one layout rather than dozens of layouts for each birthday - you’ll never be able to house all the albums as the years pass!
3. Make an album for each child with one layout per year and see how they, the presents, hairstyles and fashions change over the years

 

These two layouts use Busy Scrappers’ Solutions - Birthday from Hot Off The Press.

 

We hope these great birthday party tips will stop you pulling your hair out and instead help you plan well and have fun with your children on their birthdays.

[tags]Tips, children’s birthday parties, scrapbooking, videos[/tags]