Friday, 22 May 2015

Party Time!

Image courtesy of snipview.com

My word of the week is party.

On Tuesday 26th May my son turns 3. A whole 3 years he has been on this planet, crazy. This is all very exciting for him as he gets to have party, with birthday cake, and candles and dinosaurs and crocodiles (all his requests)!! 

Yey.

Mama is stressed once again. The concept of throwing a toddler party somewhat worries terrifies me. This year as Alfie is now aware that it's his birthday I feel slightly under pressure to throw him a decent party. Trouble is I'm reluctant to pay for a hall or soft play and invite his entire nursery as in the coming years I suspect these will be the requests! So, we've opted to throw him a party at our house again, this is both a sensible and crazy idea but there are a few things causing me some slight stress.

Firstly, our house isn't huge, we have a three storey town house so our space goes up as opposed to a two storey house where there is likely to be more floor space, we do have a reasonable space downstairs in the form of our open plan kitchen/diner/family room which opens out into our garden, but unless the weather is good we'll all be downstairs liked tinned sardines. Great. Lets also not forget that there is likely going to be toys out so it's going to be like walking through a minefield. Awesome. Also, I suspect I shall be finding remnants of food/sticky finger marks/party paraphernalia for weeks and weeks after *where's the wine?*.

Secondly, do we play games?! I've no idea, pass the parcel was played at a toddler party that Alfie went to but I don't think I can cope with that......I've opted for a piñata instead, fun for both kids and adults (especially if there has been a few drinks had....... it is acceptable to drink at a kids party right?!), bashing the crap out of a strange shaped animal to get sweets out what's not to love! Oh, I know the hyper, sugar hit that the children will have afterwards which will then make me instantly regret not putting fruit inside the piñata instead of haribo....... *where's the wine?*.



Thirdly, food, food??? What do we serve?? We have adults and children that need feeding. How do adults feel about eating dinosaur shaped sandwiches and Iced Gems? 

What about party bags. Wow, I had no idea what to put in them, I have bought so much stuff and 2 different varieties.  I've included different things for the girls, but is this wrong? Should they be gender neutral which is something that I keep hearing over and over again recently. Am I going to offend the parents by giving the girls something pink and the boys something blue? Do the girls want dinosaurs and the boys Peppa Pig? Do you see my dilemma here. Literally have no clue. Toddler parties are a whole load of judging, what happens if it doesn't life up to Alfie's expectations? I know he's unlikely to remember a massive amount of detail at the age of three and the pressure is going to be more so once he's older but still I just want him to have a great day. 

What about the cake? One thing I knew is that I wanted him to have a good cake. Don't get me wrong I can bake a cake but I could never decorate it to look half decent so I'm happy to pay out for a professional do it, if the rest of the party is horrendous at least he'll have a cracking good cake to enjoy! Alfie insisted he wanted a crocodile cake as opposed to a dinosaur which is the 'theme' we have chosen, I guess a croc is a type of dinosaur though, whatever keeps him happy!

I'm sure that regardless of all my stressing Alfie will have a great day and I am looking forward to it really as we get to see lots of our family and friends that we struggle to see, and after a couple of glasses of Prosecco I reckon it'll be alot of fun!

Any advice for this stressed Mama about throwing a toddler party?

The Reading Residence


Binky Linky

57 comments:

  1. I think alcohol (for the adults) sounds an absolute must for a kids party - hope it all goes well :) #wotw

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    1. You are of course right, we must cater for the masses ;-) x

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  2. Make sure you can have some "me" time after the party so you can recharge yourself

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    1. Thanks for the comment Agata, I definitely needed some relaxation after, it was hectic! x

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  3. As long as the little ones have a fun time that is all that matters. What about musical statues to their favourite music, even the adults can join in.

    Angela

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  4. Wow, I've never really thought about all the planning that goes into a toddler's party. As I've never organised one, I don't really have anything useful to tell you, except wine is more than acceptable for the adults. Oh and if I was at a party where the food on offer was dinosaur shaped sandwiches and iced gems, I would be over the moon! :) #binkylinky

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    1. Hehe well the dinosaur shaped sandwiches didn't happen but the iced gems did and they went down a treat! x

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  5. oh we all love a party im planning a few for the next few months

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  6. Oh, I don't doubt that Alfie will have a brilliant time! You're brave to go for it and have it at our house - we've so far managed to avoid any parties for our kids, as we tend to take them away for their birthdays, but Boo's saying she wants one this year - our time has come! Hope Alfie has a lovely day and you make it through OK! Thanks for sharing with #WotW x

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    1. I know, it was pretty hectic but yet we had a great time, now sure we'll be hosting is at our house again though far too much cleaning up! x

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  7. I think you can overthink these things. I tended to put gender neutral stuff in when H was younger, but mostly because it was easier to just buy one thing.

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    1. Yes I think you're right, I was definitely panicking over nothing, Alfie had a great time, he was just pleased to see his little friends :-) x

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  8. I'm going to be copying everything that you do hun and I can't wait. Will be fab - the other one I went to was! Bet Alfie is so excited!! xx #wotw #binkylinky

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    1. Haha! Hopefully you had a good time, everything was great (apart from my cream rug, yeah that wasn't so good later on!) x

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  9. Alcohol is a must for a kids party.....hehehe
    My girls birthdays are usually in the summer holidays so we have got out of organising them. Phew!
    Kids party food is brilliant. Dinosaur sandwiches and iced gems sound fab to me ;)
    I hope your boy has a great birthday x

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    1. Oh you are so right, thankfully the vino went down a treat :-) Thanks for the comment Kim X

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  10. A great party tip is to keep it simple , small food boxes with sandwich, drink and snack, a large blanket to sit on , a cd with party games and I ma sure all the kids have fun. Also books make nice going home gifts, with colour pencils and apiece of cake. All kids want is a bit of fun, not expensive decor.

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    1. Nayna these are such good ideas! Thanks for the suggestions, I definitely think keeping it simple and the kids had such fun. X

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  11. Hope you have a great party, as your child gets older it gets even more complicated lol until they just want the latest gadget or money ;)

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    1. Ahh oh noo don't say that Mel, although I know deep down that you're right X

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  12. I don't do party bags, I hate the things. I would say don;t stress any of it. Do typical kids food, jelly, icecream and all that, At three patry games need to be really simple

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    1. We just went with a Pinata in the end and they loved it! x

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  13. I hope you have a fabulous party, they can take so much planning!

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  14. Now there's a good word for the week - hope it goes well.

    My word for this week is FUN x

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  15. Ah! The joy of parties!! My experience- you can put all the effort in the world in, or a million things go wrong for you- the children don't notice- the word party, accompanied by cake and eating cakes and sandwiches together just seems to be a fail free scenario- and Alfie will love you and you will remain his world. And yes, if alcohol is on offer I am sure you'll have the grown up on side too! Wishing Alfie a wonderful day. x #WotW

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    1. Ahh thanks Debbie that's so sweet :-) The alcohol was well received too by the adults :-) x

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  16. Sleeping lions (or pterodactyls). Even at three that can be surprisingly competitive, and a valuable moment of piece. Pin the tail on the T-Rex. Excavate dinosaurs from ice or sand. Read a dinosaur book and get them to act it out. I could go on. In reality, I've always found eating takes ages. Have fun. I love parties. #Wotw

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    1. Do you know I have no idea how to play sleeping lions!! Loving your ideas, thanks so much for the suggestions X

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  17. I cant believe a friend of mine spent £20 per party bag recently x

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  18. I love party Planning , I expect you'll be on pinterest

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    1. Should be, I always forget how good Pinterest is for ideas! x

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  19. My twins are three, so far we've got away with not having a party as we've just had family over, but I imagine when they start nursery in September their 4th may warrant a party! Thanks for linking up to the #BinkyLinky

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    1. I'm afraid so Emily, time to get your party on haha X

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  20. Now that is a fantastic word of the week - who doesn't love a good old party! x

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  21. Love a party great post thanks for linking to the Binkylinky

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  22. OOhhh this is the same reason why I dont throw party! My son will be 5 this June and we will just go out and give some Lego toys (that we got cheap from the newspaper) to his classmates. Hopefully its going to be enough for my son. #wotw

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  23. Hi Helen, my advice take a deep breath, a good slug of wine and enjoy it. I am sure that whatever you do your son will be tickled pink with as at the end of the day he'll be getting a party and that's just what he asked for. We used to blow up lots of balloons and leave them around for children to play with and make different coloured cone hats for children to put stickers on and wear (sheets of plain pictures to scribble on/ colour in were also a life saver!).

    Keep the party bags simple and full of sweets (let them have their sugar high when they get home!) and the children will be more than happy.

    I am sure Alphie will love his party whatever you do.

    #WotW

    xx

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    1. Some marvellous ideas thanks so much, there were certainly alot of sweets to be had though that's for sure! x

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  24. I hate party time .. i stress for weeks and spend the day totally on edge

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    1. Ahh no :-( I was kind of feeling like that but relaxed once people turned up! x

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  25. With our boy for his fourth birthday we had a fun pirate party, but instead of buying loads of things for a party bag we went to a pound shop and got lots of mini hardback fairytale books at 50p each and wwrapped them in treasure maps for the ids to go home with. I thoughtat least they won't just chuck the books away :) x

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    1. Really good idea and I love the idea of a pirate theme, maybe next year! x

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  26. Ahh the joy that is children's parties! He will love it whatever you do. Try not to put too much pressure on yourself, kids entertain themselves in all sorts of ways. Easy games are good and just a few as they always take a while to get into position! We kept the food simple too having gone overboard the year before. MIni colouring books and stickers are always good party bag fodder :)

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    1. The kids were just happy to run around and play outside they were in their element :-) x

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  27. I have to say I never have parties at home, I can't deal with the stress!! I appreciate this comment doesn't help in the slightest so I apologise for that!! I hope it goes really well though :)

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    1. Haha, I know it is quite stressful but it really wasn't too bad in the end :-) x

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  28. I really hope the party went well, it is so hard to know what to do for children so young x

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    1. It really is but I think I need to not stress about it too much! x

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  29. Sorry this is so late - I hope you had a fantastic party. Kaz x

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