Birthday Strategy
Gone are the days of a Barbie doll, jelly and ice cream and a game of musical chairs. Birthday parties are an Olympic sport in their own right and really, whoever plans them deserves a medal. I have many months to go but already the stress has begun, do we hire a hall or go the fully packaged just turn up with the kids route? Do we get caterers in or spend half the night icing cupcakes and making sure we have enough bread for the sandwiches? Minefield.
Of course, this is all pressure placed on my shoulders by nobody but myself. I’m sure nobody goes to a children’s party and comments afterwards about the host’s choice of face painter or the background music but hey, I have one child and unfortunately it means I spend a lot of time getting way too absorbed in such matters. You should have seen the stress party bag fillers caused me.
With a few successful parties under my belt I feel more prepared and less stressed out. I’ve even got other children’s birthday’s under control. It’s beautiful, it’s called the birthday chest.
Birthday Chest
Find a box (or chest) and store all birthday related paraphernalia inside. This box should include:
- Sticky Tape
- Wrapping Paper
- Scissors
- Name Tags
- Birthday Cards
- GIFTS
Whenever you are in your local supermarket or toy shop and see a good deal on age appropriate gifts, buy them! They go into the birthday chest, this saves you a lot of money in the long run as it means you think logically about buying gifts within your chosen price range, rather than getting caught out the morning of the party having to run into the closest toy shop and buy the first thing that catches your eye.
Be sure to buy a wide range of gifts, this can be everything from jewellery making sets, colouring sets, books, dressing up outfits, painting kits etc. They are relatively small so won’t take up much space within your chest and are all things that wont go out of fashion by the next month. By planning ahead, the next time your child hands you the party invitation that’s been in their coat pocket for two weeks, the night before her friend’s party, you can smile, walk over to the birthday chest and handle your business!
What ways do you cope with birthdays?
Tin x
