DS1's Birthday: Party thoughts?

[heybulldog56]

So DS1 turns 3 May 2. We have never thrown him a real party. The last two years we've just invited family over for lunch and cake. DS1 recently attended a friend's party at an indoor trampoline park and had a blast. It made me wonder if we should do something for his birthday this year. Is it worth spending $300+ on a 3 year old's birthday party? I know he'd love to play with his friends and be the center of attention for a day but that's a lot of money. Our house isn't big enough to invite all his friends over and we don't have a yard. Thoughts? Right now I'm considering the trampoline place or this indoor bounce house/ playground place.

[ellabee]

We were in the same situation - DDs last 2 bdays were family lunches/dinners with cake.

DD turned 3 last week and we did her first "friends" bday party at an indoor play space. It ended up being as you said - $300+. I feel like DD had a good time and I don't regret doing it, but could we have gotten by with one more year of a low-key get together? Absolutely.

I guess if it's not an issue to swing it financially and you have the time and energy to plan/prep/execute, go for it! Your DS will have a blast. If you'd rather not the fuss, I think at 3 yrs old it's okay to skip the big to-do in favor of a family/friend lunch.

[ellabee]

Also, not entirely relevant, but I'll just say that I'm a bit envious of all the parents with summer babies who get to just pick a park to go to for free. Us January-ers (at least where I live) will forever be stuck shelling out for an indoor space rental.

[heybulldog56]

ellabee, thanks for the insight! We can definitely swing it and I know DS1 will definitely have a blast. I'll talk with Dh tonight. We have less than a month to plan!

[ambiguousmango]

Take my suggestion with a grain of salt since I do not have a toddler. This is probably the last year you will really have the option and not feel the pressure to have a party. If I could I would hold of for one more year and maybe instead tell him he could pick a friend to do a special activity for his birthday. That way he could maybe still do the bounce house or whatever but you don't have to do a big party, get ice cream afterwards. I think he would feel just as special doing that and let's you transition slowly into big boy parties.

[heybulldog56]

That's a great suggestion ambiguousmango and it may be what we end up doing since the two places we were interested do not have availability for either of the two potential weekends.

[ambiguousmango]

heybulldog56 I am sure whatever you decide your son will have a blast.

My nephew is turning 4 at the end of April and from my understanding he will not stop talking about the cake. I feel that at that age they are pretty happy with anything as long as there is copious amounts of sugar.

[heybulldog56]

ambiguousmango, my kid is obsessed with the idea of cake and singing happy birthday to himself. I'm sure he would be beyond thrilled if all we did was sing happy birthday and offer him cake. Oh and presents. He knows those things come with birthdays too.

[lakegirl]

I'm dreading when I actually have to coordinate a party outside of family. Stay little forever ds!

[Deleted]

Ditto what ellasmom says. I think he would have a blast but it's up to you if you feel like spending the money and also the time and energy.

[silvermelody]

My son didn't go to daycare or anything so he doesn't really have friends. He'll be 3 in August. Planning to keep it low key again but that's just our style

[thelittleredm]

We are contemplating doing an indoor bounce house place for DS1's party this summer. Normally, we just go to a park and grill food while all the kids play. I'm not positive how much the bounce house is here but I'm pretty certain the trampoline parks are well over $300 so that's not an option here.

[MissDemeanor]

How many friends would you invite? R turned 3 in Feb and would have loved to have invited everyone in the world. But it was too complicated/expensive when I factored how many kids were in his class.

We ended up taking 2 other kids to the indoor play place. We invited 4 but 2 were sick. I just ordered food from the cafe and no cake. I put Super Hero capes in their good bags and they ran around like crazy people. It was awesome.

I'm extra glad I did a half ass party as R was sick on his birthday and the party was cancelled last minute. That would have been expensive and frustrating if I'd gone with a big party. With only a few kids it was easy to reschedule.

We also did a family party with 15 people or so. So overall im sure the parties cost us at least $300 anyway.

Sorry for all the pointless rambling... very tired.

Here are the boys as a bonus for reading!

[weeklyplanner]

I think you can totally get away with a friend or two coming to a fun place, a family party or maybe just two friends over for a play date party. If the kids come over, you could do fun things like make your own sundaes and fill the living room with balloons and play music...instant party!

[heybulldog56]

We've officially decided to keep it small. We're probably going to invite a few friends to the children's museum and then have some cake at our house. He's also going to have a small party at daycare the day of his birthday. I know he's going to feel special and have fun whether we spend $20 or $300. We'll save the big parties for later!

[vlagroupie]

Apr 8, 2017 12:30:37 GMT -5 heybulldog56 said:

We've officially decided to keep it small. We're probably going to invite a few friends to the children's museum and then have some cake at our house. He's also going to have a small party at daycare the day of his birthday. I know he's going to feel special and have fun whether we spend $20 or $300. We'll save the big parties for later!

Well, we had a party today and although we had a great time, I don't think my kid would have cared if we spent $300 or $30. Sooo I'm trying to say, good decision on your part to keep it small. And you have a May kiddo so I feel like there are more options since you could possibly do an outdoor gtg that would be less money. With an early April birthday it's always hit or miss on the weather so I'm forever going to have to fork out money on indoor parties.