Birthday Parties..

[lauren grier]

So we're a bit off here.. Ce's birthday isn't till december- but it's that poopy birthday time, 6 days before christmas, when no one wants to do anything so best to plan far ahead.

I've been asking what he wants to do for his birthday, and he doesnt really answer-- he'll tell me the colour cake/cuppies he wants and nothing more. Ce will be turning 8- and has yet to have any sort of real birthday party. The past two years have just been he and i alone eating cupcakes (I think the year before my aunt and maybe mom came by.. but you get the idea).

Few problems. 1) I hate children. No one likes to admit this.. but seriously. Children give me hives. The idea of having a birthday party in my home is horrifying... but having a birthday party at a .. place .. requires a lot more money. So i'm stuck btwn those- neither are desirable.
2) ce isn't a social butterfly. He has one sometimes two good friends during the school year, and his "best" friend and he fight every other day and stop speaking etc.. you know typical elementary school drama. Inviting the entire class is not something I will be forced to do. no.
3) It's sort of a tradition now that we have an emo depressive ce birthday and i really want it to stop. I'm FINE with it just remaining he and i (and probs ian) but it needs to not be soo gloomy.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I'm willing to push aside my child phobia for one day and try to make ce happy - but if you never hear from me afterwards it's because they had to commit me. I just think 8 is a semi big deal- as far as little kids go. It's past the baby stage, and where real social development is taking place-- but they're not yet demonic teenagers.

[Jenn Barrette]

What if you, and Ian brought Ce to place like Chuck E. Cheese for an afternoon? Something special for the day, but not have to supervise other peeps kids?

[Julie Billingsley]

what people do around here when inviting other kids but don't want it at their house-

1. bowling alley - seriously, most kids get bored with waiting their turn and they aren't very good at it. Thumbs down.

2. skating rink - most kids seem to enjoy this. I think the costs are like $4 a kid including skate rental. Parents that want to stay and skate pay for their own rental. You typically have to pay for drinks but can bring in your own cake. (ask the skate rink) If you invite like 10 kids, it's easily under $50 around here.

3. Chuck E Cheeses - most kids enjoy this and parents hate it. LOL You DON'T have to buy the birthday party package. There isn't an admitance fee. Just look for a coupon in the Sunday papers (or sign up online) and get their coupons. They have coupons that are like buy a pizza, 4 drinks, and 50 tokens for $19.99 or whatever. Plan on buying 2-3 pizzas, pass out the tokens to the kids and let them run wild between the games and playstructure. Easily less than $50 for 10 kids... but I've done this for 4 kids and paid just $20. I don't think you can bring in a cake though. Check on that.

4. Bounce House place - very popular with most kids. Except mine because he gets motion sick. Admittance fees are about $6-10 a kid for like 2 hours. Plus drinks, because these kids will be hot and sweaty and want drinks.

5. McDonalds - eh with the kids. You can pay for a party (not worth it) or just have the kids come, buy them each a happy meal, and let them run through the play structure. Cost is just the cost of happy meals per kid. Like $3-4 each. no cake allowed typically. But you could do the $1 sundaes from there for a dessert.

[hollyxann]

Originally Posted by Jenn Barrette

What if you, and Ian brought Ce to place like Chuck E. Cheese for an afternoon? Something special for the day, but not have to supervise other peeps kids?

Chuck E Cheese gives me serious hives!

[jacinda]

Is there an indoor rock climbing place near you? Have Ce invite one or two friends and go do something special like that maybe. My kids and all my nephews LOVE rock climbing. Especially on the made-for-kids walls.

[Julie Billingsley]

or go to a fun place - science museum or children's museum or zoo (does your zoo do a Christmas lights at night thing?) something fun he'd like but doesn't typically go to.

[emmasmommy]

yah, chuck e cheese makes me shake.

what about just having the 1 or 2 friends over or inviting a couple of other kids he doesn't 'hate' to come over as well? something small. i have a ginormous family so we just typically have e invite a couple of her little friends over to crash the family party.

[jacinda]

What about a sleepover? One or two kids, a DVD, popcorn and cake?

[lauren grier]

Originally Posted by jacinda

Is there an indoor rock climbing place near you? Have Ce invite one or two friends and go do something special like that maybe. My kids and all my nephews LOVE rock climbing. Especially on the made-for-kids walls.

semi ot- but related- i googled to see if we do, and surprise there's one in my city.. i looked at their kid programs for ce's age etc..... 320 bucks for the afterschool program for sept19-dec18. youch. lol

though their daily prices seem not as horrid.

[lauren grier]

Originally Posted by Julie Billingsley

or go to a fun place - science museum or children's museum or zoo (does your zoo do a Christmas lights at night thing?) something fun he'd like but doesn't typically go to.

that's a cute idea.. our zoo def does christmasy stuff- and he loves the zoo. i gotta look, sometimes their events are "members only" things (we use to be members.. not now though, but i have time)

[lauren grier]

Originally Posted by Jenn Barrette

What if you, and Ian brought Ce to place like Chuck E. Cheese for an afternoon? Something special for the day, but not have to supervise other peeps kids?

chuck e cheese is scary LOL

but.... i wonder if i can find a rad arcade.. We use to have the dream machine when i was a kid.. but its gone now :[ stupid people ruining things.

[jessica31876]

what about a day for Ce to choose whatever he wants to do? Just hang out, go to the ocean (although up there in December it is gonna be super cold LOL), go to see a movie he is dying to see and let him order all the popcorn and candy he wants? I used to do super huge birthday parties for my kids every year up until they were like 12 or 13 and it just got to be to much. Both in money and in the stress it caused. Id inevitably forget something majorly important because I did not want to have it at my house either so we always had it at a park. So we could not just run home to get whatever I forgot. One year it was something to cut the cake. Another year it was the hotdogs (which was the main course for the bbq LOL) So after that we did cake and maybe dinner out and presents but made sure to make it a big deal for the birthday kid.

[lauren grier]

Originally Posted by Julie Billingsley

what people do around here when inviting other kids but don't want it at their house-

1. bowling alley - ce loves bowling.. but yer probably right. i see that going not so well with bored little children roaming around.

2. skating rink - skating rink would be totally rad. i/m going to look into that

3. Chuck E Cheeses - scary. SCARY.

4. Bounce House place - I have been looking for a place.. like the one shawna took us to near you............ and nothing. All i ever find are like those rental things. Ce had so much fun there.

5. McDonalds - too many allergies in the boy, it'd make for sad.

[SmallMoments]

Luke's a winter baby too. Last year we did a party at an indoor water park. This next year we are thinking of maybe just having him pick a friend or two and going instead of a full 12 or whatever kids it was. Do you have anything like that around? Where you could take him and a friend for an afternoon?

What about setting up some kind of scavenger hunt where he has to figure out clues to where ever you're going next? That could just be the three of you or he could bring a friend.

[jessica31876]

Oh I thought of something else. Do you have a go-kart place near you? Or laser tag? Both are tons of fun for little boys and not to expensive. My son went paintballing when he was just a tad older but it is probably still a little advanced for 8y/o. (and causes a little bruising which I did not know til after). He absolutely loved it though.

[mummytothree]

My oldest DS has a Nov 23 birthday and we always hit the streak where it falls the day before Thanksgiving, on Thanksgiving or the day after Thanksgiving. It makes for some pretty crappy birthdays....so what I do is I have his party usually the first weekend in December...I find that parents are willing to and actually anxious to get rid of their kids....hey 2 hours of kid free Christmas shopping....who wouldn't wan that!?!?!

So maybe you could have him a little friend party 2 weekends before his actually birthday and you might find people more willing to attend...and it doesn't have to be his whole class....what about just the boys (our school still let's kids pass out invites as long as it one of the following: the whole class, just the boys or just the girls) or if you want it smaller just a friend or two and call to invite them or mail the invites!!!

This year I am doing a Hot Chocolate Bar for his party...not lunch involved...it will be from 1 to 3 PM and only the boys from his class. We hare going to have hot chocolate with every known mix in you can thing of and hot chocolate flavored cupcakes and we are going to make a hot chocolate mix thing as a "party favor" (instead of a goodie bag).

[julifish]

What about him and a few friends going to Laser Tag? Ours has an arcade in it too and it wouldn't be too pricey for only 3 kids.

Trampoline/jumping place? Ours is called Airheads and they have groupons for $10 for a 1 hour jump. For Ce, 1-2 friends it would be cheap! Get McD's on the way home.


We just did a 9th b-day party and my DD invited 3 friends and it was perfect and really cheap. We did a camping theme and I made the kids cook their own hotdogs for dinner. I hired my older DD to be the camp counselor, but you could hire a local teen you know to do the same $10 for the whole night and she played games, watched the movie with them...etc.

Does it snow where you live before Christmas? What about a sledding party with just a few kids and their families? Serve hot cocoa and cookies and you're done!

My DD has her birthday in Dec (the 9th). We always have her parties before Thanksgiving or the first Friday night in Dec because otherwise people are always busy. However, if you are only doing 2 friends maybe you can call the moms early and take them on a day when the parents could then do some Christmas shopping while you have their kid.

Is there something really cool that he wants to do that would be a huge treat? If you want no kids you could take him to do something special then have dinner out and do the cake there (take it with you if you want). That way he's not all cooped up in the house.

It's hard when they don't have a lot of friends but you have to try to cultivate those relationships when they find someone they click with...it's the only way they learn how the whole friend thing works (my yougest DD is this way!!!) Good luck.

[Darcy Baldwin]

Chuck E Cheese does allow you to bring in your own birthday cake

We usually don't do a big party, but invite 1-3 close friends and do something fun. Aiden will get that next year as he was due one this year and we couldn't swing it.

Bowling alleys really can be fun for 8 yo - they're still using the gutter guards, and if you only have a few friends, they cycle through pretty quickly. All of our friends' kids love it still.

Some place that has an indoor pool park would be great fun in the cold months.

If you have a place that does indoor laser tag/video arcade/bowling, etc. With only one or two friends, it's not hugely expensive. I know I used coupons and stuff and got away with around $50 for 4 kids to do everything.

[jacinda]

Originally Posted by lauren grier

semi ot- but related- i googled to see if we do, and surprise there's one in my city.. i looked at their kid programs for ce's age etc..... 320 bucks for the afterschool program for sept19-dec18. youch. lol

though their daily prices seem not as horrid.

I never pay for full day kids programmes. Our climbing place costs about $7.50 for the kids and $15.00 for the adults (if they want to climb) for a half day of climbing. A couple of hours doing that and the kids are happy. And tired. LOL. We never stay more than 1-2 hours.

[rach3975]

My oldest DS is turning 8 in Oct. He's also the type who usually just has a few close friends. I think he'd be better off inviting his 2 close friends to do something special, but he's not ready to give up the big birthday party (or maybe the birthday presents from the big party, LOL).

If I could convince him, we'd take his 2 best friends out for a treat (probably ice cream, but anything would work) and then either to a movie or to free play at someplace like pump it up (a bounce house). You could also do an indoor swimming pool, bowling, or paint your own pottery.

Good luck! Lauren's birthday is the day after Christmas, and this is the first year we're going to have a real party. I think we're going to wait until Jan and let her actual birthday just be a family day.

[Tracyfish]

I don't know what his allergies are, but are there are chocolate shops, bakeries or donut places that would let you bring in a him and a friend or two to decorate their own goodies?

[MamaBee]

Oh - I hear you... I really dislike other people's kids unless I like their parents..

How about swimming? I've seen birthday parties at the YMCA... I remember when I was that age, a girl had her birthday party at the Y and then go for pizza? Do you have a Happy Joe's? Shoot - I just looked, it must be a midwest thing... maybe you have something similar... pizza place that has a small arcade. Not as crazy (or germ-laden) as the Chuck.

Does he have any other likes... planetarium? natural history museum? Children's Museum?

[dana]

good luck la! LOL - we haven't done any b-day parties yet and i'm trying to put if off as long as possible

if it were me, i'd have him invite one or two friends only - and then do a fun activity (laser tag, movie, skating, etc) and then either have cake/ice cream at your place or out at an ice-cream shop, friendly's, etc .... i'm not sure about how much boys would like this (i have girls LOL) - but you could also do some sort of christmas-y craft ? gingerbread houses? decorate sugar cookies to take home ...

[*Celeste*]

At the 8th birthday we started limiting it to special friends only so maybe 2 or 3 guests. Just take them somewhere and do something fun. Like a go kart place or mini-golf or a drive in movie or just to the movies. You could do cake at your palce and then take them.

[nesser1981]

A Skating Rink sounds great, because, they aren't right up under you! You don't have to entertain them.

Coop's a winter baby too. I hate they can't get outside & run.

Originally Posted by lauren grier

1. bowling alley - ce loves bowling.. but yer probably right. i see that going not so well with bored little children roaming around.

2. skating rink - skating rink would be totally rad. i/m going to look into that

3. Chuck E Cheeses - scary. SCARY.

4. Bounce House place - I have been looking for a place.. like the one shawna took us to near you............ and nothing. All i ever find are like those rental things. Ce had so much fun there.

5. McDonalds - too many allergies in the boy, it'd make for sad.