Kids’ birthday parties.
Those three words are enough to spread terror through any sane adult.
When I was a kid we had a party every year, but I was limited to inviting six friends only (which was probably a really smart move on my parents’ behalf). These days it seems like parties have progressed from a simple game of pass the parcel into a whole singing/dancing/bells and whistles affair. My niece had a petting zoo for her second birthday and one of my nephews has had a themed party for each of his four birthdays. And I have to say, my sister-in-law knows how to theme a party. It’s seriously insane!
This year it was dinosaurs and he had to share the party with his one-year-old brother as they were born three years and two days apart. There were two dinosaur cakes, and plastic dinosaurs everywhere. There were dinosaur eggs (some of which were edible), and each child got a dinosaur tail they could wear.
There was a dinosaur bouncy castle, blow-up dinosaurs on the trampoline so you could wrestle your own one, and even the food was themed with carnivore food and herbivore food.
One of the highlights of the day was when my husband came out dressed as a T-Rex and chased the kids around. They absolutely loved it – though they did have a knack for hitting him right where it hurts!
I’ve got to say that I would never be able to keep up with my sister-in-law. The level of detail she goes into, right down to little themed signs for all of the food, is more than I have the patience for – though even she admitted this year that she might be a little bit obsessive!
No matter what – the kids sure had fun.
