Category Archives: DC Parenting Blogger

Today’s Topic: Kids Birthday Parties

July 27, 2011

When planning for your kid’s birthday party, whether your philosophy is “go big or go home” or keeping it intimate and affordable, it always ends up being a ton of work and in my experience, costs a bit more than you bargained for. So, today’s Wired Momma expert is Laura from Thumbs Up Party, a local mom and small business owner. If you didn’t see it, I contributed a piece to the July “Best of Washington” Washingtonian issue called “Happiest Birthdays” and Laura’s company  is one of the “Best of Washington” vendors I featured. Full disclosure – I have never used Laura for one of my kid’s parties but heard amazing things about her company (which led to Thumbs Up’s inclusion in the Washingtonian piece) and then as luck would have it, a friend hired her for her daughter’s party about a week before the issue hit the stands, and my girls delighted in their experience at the beautifully executed Tinkerbell themed party.

My sweet baby at the Thumbs Up Fairy Party

Because there was such limited space for the article in Washingtonian, and because we all face down the inevitable kid birthday party at some point (mine are both in November), it seemed a natural to spend some time with Laura, getting advice from a pro, on how to plan for and execute a fabulous kids birthday party.  So read on for some really creative and helpful tips!

When I was researching kids birthday party vendors for Washingtonian, I was amazed at how few vendors there are out there who do what you do. Can you tell us about how Thumbs Up started and what services you provide to parents who hire Thumbs Up?

Absolutely. I knew I was headed into business for myself but it wasn’t until one mom, who was attending my daughter’s birthday party, walked over to me and encouraged me to get into the birthday party business that I realized that’s where I would end up. It was actually a mermaid themed party back in August of 2006, so we’re coming up on our five-year anniversary next month.  The bottom line is as moms, we all know what it’s like hosting a kids party at your house – 2 hours fly by, you don’t have any time to talk with guests and it’s a whirlwind. I wanted to launch a business that would help simplify the birthday party process and allow parents to enjoy the experience.  So now, five years later, I have 12 employees, ranging from high school students to other moms. Now my daughter, the one who’s birthday party inspired the business idea, actually helps me out. I really appreciate the fact that my kids see me pouring my heart into my company and now I can bring  my daughter in to help here and there.

I know from our previous discussions you offer a wide range of party themes that appeal to boys and girls, can you tell us about your party themes and which are the most popular?

Sure, for the boys the Star Wars, 007 Spy and Super Hero themes are the most popular and those themes span across a wide age range, with the most common being 5-6 year olds. For girls, the Girlfriend Glamour Spa is the top theme, also Princess & Diva and Fairyland are popular. Our themes appeal to kids ages 1-16.

Those themes sound like so much fun. My girls will be 3 and 6 in November and I struggle every single year with keeping the party small and keeping the games going during the party. Inevitably the guest list grows despite my vows to keep it intimate and the games wrap up faster than I expect. I don’t know why I let this surprise me every year. Will the parties ever get smaller and what advice can you give us on planning for games?

Absolutely. You should know that relief is in sight. In my experience, both personally and with the company, I’ve found that as the kids get older, the guest lists get smaller. In preschool and even into kindergarten, parents feel compelled to invite the whole class or the school has a policy that if invites are handed out at school, then the entire class must be invited. As the kids get older, they have their own few friends that they want to invite and the whole thing just gets smaller. As for games and activities, my advice is to plan more activities than you think you will need, especially because you never know what the dynamics of the group will be that day. If you keep them active and engaged, it’s easier on you. And as you pointed out, the games tend to go faster than you think they will. I also fill time in between games with creative/imaginative play. For example, if you want to move the kids to another part of the house, you can have an imaginary parade using their sparkly high heels:  Ask them to put on their pretend high heels and clip clop to the magical castle, in their magical shoes, walking in a parade. If you are creative and silly, the kids will really respond and have fun with it. In addition to planning more activities than you think you’ll need, I recommend that you write down all your tips, including the filler ideas like the princess parade. If you don’t write it down, you will forget it.

What a creative idea, I love it. How do you plan for parties in terms of time – what is the ideal length of time and how do you break it out when writing everything down in advance?

For the younger kids, I really think 90 minutes is a good amount of time. Plan for 10 minutes on the front end for arrival time. Also with young ones, they don’t necessarily always jump right into the party, then might be hanging onto Mom and not sure about it all. I urge the hostess to get down on their level and greet them personally. Then plan for 50 minutes of activities: crafts, interactive time, 3 games, then the filler idea in between games because you don’t want them sitting the entire time in between games. You can also have fun stretching activities between games: Have them reach up high for the stars, stretching on their tippy toes, then hop over here, then lift their legs 5 times, and so on. It’s an easy way to get their energy out.

What games do you find are the most popular ones for kids parties?

Kids of all ages love freeze dance. And then for us, it depends on the theme of the party. We take classic games like Hot Potato and customize it, so for example for a Princess themed party, we would play pass the jewel. For a Star Wars themed party, we would play pass the light sabre. Kids also love scavenger hunts and relay races. But the games really do vary based on group size and age and what the theme is of the party. We actually have fashion shows, concerts and performances with the Diva party theme. We’ll bring lights and a red carpet. For American Idol theme parties, we’ll break kids out into groups of 3-4 and teach them dance moves and have them perform in costumes with props.

OK. Can you host these for adults? It sounds like so much fun. Now let’s talk party size. Like I said, I fail at this every year. I seem incapable of keeping it small. How do you manage and staff a party based on size, to give the rest of us a realistic idea of how many adults we need helping pending on party size?

Our parties are geared for 8 kids up to 14 kids. We have 2 party hostesses and for anything bigger, we’ll have a third party hostess there. Often we’ll have a character apperance instead of another hostess. The bottom line is the extra set of hands is really helpful -you always need someone designated to help write down what gifts the child received, for example, and you want to ask them well before the party starts to help you.

Here’s something else that is the bane of my existence: Goodie Bags. They are a waste of money and it’s all just crap anyway but the kids expect it.  Are you seeing families move away from goodie bags or if not, any tips on where to get the filler?

Goodie bags can definitely get out of hand. I believe that less is more. I’ve seen themed personalized cookies instead of the gift bags, a personalized bag with the child’s names on them is another popular one, or I’ve seen people donate money to a dog shelter or a charity of the child’s choice. Another great idea is to take pictures of the birthday child with each of his/her guests and print them during the party, then have the kids decorate picture frames and that is their take home present. It’s nice because they’ve made memories together and have something for their rooms. But here’s another area where you’d need an extra set of hands helping you – to print those pictures during the party.  If you are purchasing items for the goodie bags, I think Party City has good theme related things that can hold up – I do not recommend Oriental Trading because those items fall apart very quickly.

What advice to you have in terms of timeframes for sending out invites,  people RSVP’ing and is there an increased trend in the “No Gifts” direction?

For RSVPs, if you are hosting it yourself, I’d recommend 5 days in advance. If we are hosting your party for you, we send the invites out 4 weeks in advance, and if you are hosting it yourself, I’d say sending invites 3 weeks in advance is good. As for gifts, many people are asking that instead of bringing a gift, you bring an item for food donation or you donate some money to an animal shelter of the child’s choice. I’ve seen it happen even with really young kids and those kids seem to understand it and really learn something through that process. If they specify “No Gifts” on the invite, you have to respect their request and not bring a gift.

You’ve given us all some great advice, Laura. Do you have any final parting words of wisdom?

Yes – don’t forget music. People often forget it and it really sets the tone of the party. We create our own party lists to match the theme of the party and the age group of the kids. Also, pick 2-3 colors as your theme colors for the party and stick with that. It will help create a comfortable space and bring all the elements together. It also looks really nice.

Thank you to Laura. And if you are interested in hiring Thumbs Up to handle your child’s party, know that they book up about 2 months in advance. I was so impressed with the party they threw for my friend’s daughter – and my friend could actually spend time really soaking in the fun her daughter was having and talk with the other guests.  Also – I used Laura’s idea of the imaginary parade the other day when out walking with my girls – we were mermaids searching for fish and dolphins and pirate treasure – it ended up being one of the most fun walks we’ve ever had. They immediately slipped into character and spotted under-the-sea animals within seconds of me introducing the idea. I loved it!

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DC Moms Expert Series, DC Parenting Blogger, Kids Birthday Parties, Motherhood, Washington Mommy Blogger

Paper Obsession

July 26, 2011

Can anyone believe that school starts in a month? I am going to be an emotional basket-case when that school bus filled with my brand new Kindergartener pulls away. My neighbor just revealed to me that she followed the bus on the first day of school and then was one of a few equally as neurotic parents who were in the parking lot, tearing up, and taking pictures of their sweet tyke heading off the bus for their first day of elementary school. I mean – this is genius. You better believe I will be doing this – and without any shame. It is what it is, kittens.

And given that it’s school time in one month, so begins my annual obsession with all things paper. As soon as the calendar hits August, I think it’s reasonable to start thinking about Christmas cards. For real – through my sweat and hatred of the heat – I am thinking about my holiday card theme and what pictures I might still need to capture. I received my first Halloween catalog two weeks ago and frankly that annoyed me. But the arrival of August and the reality of Back-to-School and dreams of crisp fall mornings really feed my love for paper products. These paper products help me feign the image of being an organized gal. 

This week's deal on paper at Plum District DC

So imagine my delight over this week’s deal on Plum District for Erin Condren paper. I had never even heard of these products before (Thank you Plum!) but immediately hopped on her site and started trolling for pieces we all can be sure I had to have. I ended up with the return address mailing labels, which I legitimately needed. God forbid I have to use my delicate hand to actually write my return address.  And I also ended up with the birthday stickers, which I arguably didn’t need but seemed like a brilliant way to help a mom realize who the gift is from once her cherub has torn apart all birthday gifts at Nascar speed, and then I justified that I don’t need to worry about wasting money on kid cards anymore. Brilliant, right? And see how I’m thinking of other moms with that one. The question is – where will I place said label – on the outside of the gift bag? Will they see it there? I’ll let you know when the time comes.  I lingered over the holiday themed return address labels on her site for a little too long, I will admit.  Bottom line – you can get $50 worth of goods for $25 – so you better act fast if you’re as paper obsessed as moi. This is not the last you’ll hear of my paper obsession. Mark my words.

Disclosure: As part of my partnership with Plum District, they gifted me these items. But I wouldn’t be telling you about them if I didn’t genuinely want them.

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DC Parenting Blogger, Life with 2 kids, Motherhood

Kid-Free Restaurants and Planes?

July 25, 2011

With disgust and horror pasted on their faces, I intently eavesdropped on the conversation between a couple sitting next to us in Lebanese Taverna earlier this spring. These two were aghast over a family sitting behind them who had a baby, I guessed around 10-11 months old. The baby was perfectly well-behaved from my perspective. Beyond being super cute, he wasn’t making a sound and was eating his delicious meal. The trouble is the way babies eat their meals is up for judgment among those who have never had the pleasure of feeding a baby. Obviously this kid was both eating his rice and tossing his rice onto the floor, as any self-respecting baby does. These two near-perfect diners exchanged such comments as “If parents are going to let their  kids eat like that, then they shouldn’t be allowed to bring their children to restaurants.” And “Why doesn’t that mother do something about that kid?”

I couldn’t help but wonder if the flame had gone out in their relationship if the only thing they could talk about was the table manners of this unsuspecting baby. Then again, I was out without children and with my husband and was readily spending my time eaves-dropping on their conversation and shooting them nasty looks, so who was I to judge the state of their relationship? I was better-suited to keep my judgment directed towards their near-perfect existence enabling them to so harshly criticize this poor family. It was everything I had not to lean over and say “I know this will shock you, but you behaved THE SAME WAY when you were a baby.”

The other thing was, this kid was only tossing rice on the floor. When my youngest was that age, she was self-enrolled in the baby food-hurling Olympics and perfected the art of chucking pieces of meat into her dinner companion’s eyes, faces, noses, really anything at her level. We were like clay pigeons in skeet shooting practice for her and she squealed with delight over successfully pegging us with her food. Even I realize that is unacceptable table manners when out in public but there was absolutely nothing I could do about it until she outgrew that delightful phase. But merely tossing rice on the ground? Doesn’t that just come with baby-eating territory? The staff at Lebanese Taverna seemed to barely notice the state of the ground when that family left and cleverly moved another family to that same table – opening the door for this couple to begin judging yet another mother.

And why is it always the mom’s fault?

I must admit, their harsh and ongoing judgment of the families left me incredibly irritated but also wondering – how often have I been judged by others at a restaurant based on how my kids are acting? I work pretty hard at bringing a bag full of supplies to keep the girls entertained throughout the meal, offer rewards for good table manners prior to entering the restaurant (I mock the experts who tell parents not to bribe – have those people ever had kids?) and rarely fully taste my meal or finish a conversation – so it’s not like I’m lounging over a 4-course meal noting the hints of wood and fruit  in my glass of wine while my children are terrorizing other tables.

I might hang this sign all over my own house.

The experience in the spring helped soften my surprise when news broke last week that a restaurant outside Pittsburgh banned children under the age of 6. Even more notable, an online poll on MSNBC accompanying this news indicates that only 3% of survey respondents feel it is patently unfair to ban children from restaurants. Whaaa? 44% of respondents said children should be banned right now and if you are a statistics geek, this is a statistically significant survey because that 44% represents over 42,000 people. Apparently a generous 53% were at least nice enough to respond that it depends on the place.

So are parents of young children, here defined as those 6 and under, universally hated in restaurants beyond inexpensive chains?

To me it’s really about common sense and attentive parenting. Would I bring my children to Citronelle? Of course not – why would I spend an enormous amount of money on a restaurant only to waste it on my kids not eating the food and me not enjoying the experience. Is it respectful to other patrons to bring young children to high-end restaurants?  And does it even make sense? Isn’t that the parent’s call?

I do firmly believe that all parents are responsible for keeping the children quiet and as well-behaved as possible when eating out – but to go so far as to ban them strikes me as unfair and unkind. The trouble is – we’ve all seen other parents out with unruly children running around, shouting, fighting and generally bored while the parents just ignore them – so are those people dragging the rest of us down?

And what about planes? Last summer a survey came out that revealed the majority of respondents believe there should be a family-only section on planes. On some level, I have to wonder if that might offer some relief to the parent whose baby is screaming and there’s nothing that they can do about it – at least they are among company – but again – who’s to say that young children are any worse behaved than obnoxious adults? I’ve seen plenty of them on planes in my time.

One friend suggested we could just start taking this whole concept of banning similar groups to one area a little further. Her thought was – how about we ban all the skinny bitches at the pool to the same section?

Actually, I think if we need to resort to these kinds of boundaries, I’m in favor of how this old guy in North Carolina handles unruly kids – and I can’t say I fully disagree with him – he has a zero tolerance policy for screaming kids. And how does he communicate said policy? With a sign on the front door of his restaurant. OK then – perfect. As a parent, I know the rules. If my kid starts screaming, I leave the restaurant with said child, otherwise have fun and enjoy the meal. I can dig it.

What do you think?

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DC Parenting Blogger, Life with 2 kids, Motherhood, Traveling with Kids, Washington Mommy Blogger

Mid-Summer Sweltering Survival Tips

July 21, 2011

The dog days are seriously here – and if you are looking for ideas on how to survive – here’s a recap of some of the summer ideas covered here or links to other great DC bloggers who offer some fab tips. Call me a little lazy today because of all the link-love but it’s too hot to think.  And hopefully there’s something for everyone below.

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DC Day Trips with Kids, DC Events with Kids, DC Moms Expert Series, DC Parenting Blogger, Express Blowout/Keratin Treatments, Family Travel Tips, Motherhood, Summer Hair Trends, Summer Highlighting Trends, Summer Survival with Kids, Summer Travel Tips, Theater for kids, Traveling with Kids, Washington Mommy Blogger
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