Thursday, July 23, 2009

Kids Parties - Whose Party is it Anyway



I am busy gearing up for my daughter’s birthday party this Saturday.
Having a child make you look at giving from a whole new light. What I have noticed is that in some cases parents can get caught up in the comparative party syndrome where what the last parent catered for, did or did not do seems to take preference over where her the child enjoyed themselves of not.
I suppose it is because we are trapped in the corporate world and there is no greater bush telegraph that school moms. You get to find out all the juicy gossip at a school. Hence we can get trapped by what will get said about us.
The best birthday party that I went to was where the mom respectfully put out platters for hungry moms and dads, but busied herself with the real spirit of giving at a party and that is making sure the little ones leave having the greatest time.
This year I decided to have a private party for a few select friends of my daughter. She was allowed to invite ten friends. The rule was: “only invite children that you play with and who are nice to you”.
We are off to have a fun filled morning of tenpin bowling and as we are in a public place I have ordered bright t-shirts with her party logo on them so that we can see our group a mile off. It is a great way to ensure the safety of your little ones.
The day is not about catching up on school gossip, but rather to make sure that each child has a great time, lots of laughs and lots of stories to tell at show and tell about their great new hobby.
Whenever you plan a party of a gift, remember who is the most important on the day and what your objective is. Then plan your giving around that.