A Whole New World…

With The Boy now at ‘big school’ we are embracing a new era as a family.  He could not have made it any easier for us.  He has literally run inside each and every day.  There have been no tears, no tantrums, no clinging to our legs and each night he leaves proudly clutching his book bag and eager to do his homework.

I’m so proud of him.

With school though also comes a new minefield for me to manoeuvre my way through-birthday parties.  Up until now birthday parties for the smalls have only ever really involved family members and the odd neighbour.  This year The Boy wants a ‘proper party’, and being one of the eldest in his class I have a sinking feeling we may be the first to host one.

I have literally no clue where to start.

The last time I went to a child’s party it was the eighties and I was a child.

I have vague memories of cubed food on sticks, pass the parcel, the always terrifying musical chairs which I hated, party rings and fondant fancies along with party bags that always smelt vaguely like hospitals.  Oh, and the weedy kid inevitably throwing up in a corner somewhere half an hour in and having to leave early.

Is this still acceptable?  Do kids still play the same games?  Are they still happy with cuboid food or would health and safety freak out at the potential stabbiness of cocktail sticks?  And what on earth do I do about kids with allergies? 

And then who do I invite?  As he has not been at school more than a few weeks I am expecting to bite the bullet on this one and go for the whole class.  Do the parents come too?  Do they stay?

And how long do these things actually last for anyway?  Is an hour too short?  Two hours too long? (It sounds pretty long.)

And what on earth do you even put in a party bag these days?

Argh!

I throw myself at your mercy lovely readers.  PLEASE tell me what I am meant to do.

All and any advice much needed and I will be super grateful.

Based on this info put together by SunLife it seems I should perhaps have been thinking about all of this a tad sooner.  Kids parties don’t come cheap.  Look how much we spend on average….

Eep!

So, once again, any advice would be very welcome and if your child has been to a spectacular party recently please do let me know the best bits.  I need all the help I can get!

Wish me luck.

This post is brought to you in association with SunLife, however all words are my own.