Ever since my first child was born, I've become very conflicted about kids' parties. It's common practice in our area to host very large parties for little kids, from birth throughout grade school. By large, I mean they range from 15 to 50 kids at some of the parties we've attended. The prevailing attitude seems to be to make sure that no one is left out. So by the time a child is in grade school, the birthday guest list can be composed of friends from playgroup, daycare, preschool, the neighborhood and grade school. As an avid reader of parenting articles, I can tell you that all the experts say that the number of your child's guests should be equal to his age. That means that at a three-year-old party you should have three kids plus the birthday child, not the twenty kids I usually see. So you can see my conflict, do I follow the "parenting experts" advice or do I follow the practice of my friends and neighbors and make sure no one is left out of my daughters' parties?
My other conflict involves the type of party to host for my girls. When I was growing up, a nice birthday party consisted of a few friends, a cake, ice cream and some paper party hats. If you got really fancy there may have been some party blowouts and a lollipop for each kid. We played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and musical chairs. Many of the parties we now attend are the kind kids used to dream about. Professional entertainment has become commonplace such as a clown, a dress-up character, a petting zoo brought to the home, or an impressive event held at an outside facility such as a spa. There's lots of food for both the adults and the children, and the large, themed birthday cake is the grand finale. The options seem only limited by the parents' imagination and the child's interest.
All this leaves me wondering what's the best kind of party for little kids? Are they just as happy with some cake and ice cream and a few theme decorations and activities at home? Or should parents give them the biggest, most memorable party we can afford? Should parents host a small party at home with five of the child's best friends? Or should parents throw a large enough party to return all the invitations the child has ever received?
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