Surviving Hosting a Kid Birthday

Posted on 03 11, 2006 under The Manual by gregoryng | View Comments

Hosting a kid birthday party can be more stressful than a hernia exam. We hosted my son"s first birthday party this morning. 15 kids ranging in ages from 8 months to 10 years old running around, trying to play nice with each other, and carrying food and drink all over the house. Although this type of behavior is easy to deal with when it is just your kid, sometimes the mere sight of multiple kids can cause you to curl into a fetal position and cry, "Uncle". But never fear! With the right planning, you can spend more time soaking in your child"s special day and less time hiding out in the bathroom, popping Rolaids, sucking your thumb and asking for your mommy.

The following are a few tips that I have learned from hosting a few parties for my kids including my son"s this morning:

Hide Key Objects
If your kid has a toy that you can"t bear to see trashed by a party guest, just put it away. My daughter has an American Girl doll that she won"t even let me touch let alone one of her brother"s friends. So we just put away in a closet and out of view. Simple.

Make Trash Cans Visible
Trash cans hidden behind cabinet doors are aesthetically pleasing when you are in non-party mode but when you have tons of people with a ton of trash it is very easy for guests to just leave them laying around. A prominently displayed trash can will cut down on your cleanup time.

Accept Messes
There"s no way around it dude. Cake will be smeared into the carpet, mud will be tracked in from the outside, and something of undetermined origin will be found in the bathroom. Don"t stress it during the party…just bad mouth the guests after they leave.

Cut the Cake Early…But Not too Early
People tend to stay until the cake is cut. That"s just basic etiquette. But use extreme caution when deciding when to cut the cake. Pumping a room full of kids with huge hits of sugar can be suicidal. And if you do it too early, you can kiss something valuable goodbye.

Take Copious Notes
There may be a ton of gifts and if you don"t take good notes, you will lose track of who gave your kid what. Then you will have to write a lame-ass generic thank you note like when you were 12. "Dear Uncle Mickey, Thank you for the generous gift. I really appreciate it. I will love it forever. Thanks again. -Greg"

Keep these tips in mind and you may find hosting a kid"s party isn"t so bad after all.

 

 

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  • wahoodad
    We\'ve hosted two of my son\'s parties at our house (not counting his 1st B-day). We found that the first thing you have to do is have a plan and execute it.

    Step 1 is to have a defined party time limit and mark it clearly on the invitation. Sometimes guests have trouble with an open-ended invite. You know, the cutesy \"12:00 to ????\". If you tell them when to arrive and when to GTFO they won\'t be wondering if they need to stay longer so as to not appear rude, or when to figure out they\'ve overstayed their welcome.

    Step 2 is not to allow for too much idle time. Have the whole event planned out. Here\'s what we did for a 4th birthday: When each kid arrived they had a photo taken wearing a green plastic pith helmet in front of a junglish background. They then proceeded to a table where they decorated a foam picture frame and colored their reptile-themed goodie bag. By the time everyone finished, the entertainment arrived and was all set up in the basement. We had a traveling reptile/animal show called Curious Creatures. The handler showed the kids a bunch of animals, including a tarantula and a 7-foot reticulated python. While the show was going on, a couple of adults converted the craft table to a cake-and-ice cream table. When the show ended, the kids came up, we had the cake, and then everyone left. Later, we sent the kids a thank you note along with their frame and photo. Very little mess and everyone had fun. You don\'t need a lot of money. You just need to be creative.

    Other thoughts:

    Save the present-opening for later. Take the gifts from guests when they arrive and put them in a secure location. Present-opening time can be a disaster. From kid guests not being able to handle watching your kid getting all this cool stuff, to your kid letting everyone in the room know what they think of the sweater a neighbor knitted for him; you\'re doing everyone a favor by opening gifts later.

    Don\'t be afraid to set limits to minimize destruction and messes. It\'s okay to tell kids where they can and can\'t take food and drink in your home. It\'s okay to tell them they can\'t play in your kid\'s bedroom today or that they aren\'t allowed to use your leather couch as a trampoline. You don\'t have to surrender your home to abuse just because you throw a party.
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