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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The onerous part of kid part venues is the $500-1000 price tag. [/quote]

As someone who could not afford that for years, that is in fact the onerous part. It was really stressful for a few years there when it seemed like everyone else was doing these venue parties and we couldn't afford it. We would host smaller parties but I can tell sometimes the kids have very specific expectations (because they are so used to doing the venue parties so a party in a backyard or at a park without that level of entertainment doesn't seem right to them). We would also feel guilty letting our kid go to the venue parties when we could never host one. The whole thing sucked and I hated it, so I was really glad when the venue parties died off and instead kids do small group parties, usually with some kind of outing (roller skating, movie, etc.). That's generally less expensive than the venues because you are just hosting a small group of kids.

[b]I wish the default for little kid parties was: local park of backyard, pizza or other easy and simple food, cake, kids run around and play. [/b]The venue parties are such a burden when you are on a tight budget. I don't care what rich people do but we are in a middle class neighborhood and I resent that this is where the culture has gone.[/quote]

I basically threw this exact party when my oldest turned 8. Two kids told me”it was the best party I ever went to” and one told me “I’m not having fun. This party sucks.” So you have to have a thick skin and not care about that sort of thing. The rude kid ended up being a bully at school in older years.
Now that my kids are older I take a small group to a venue which I can afford. The whole class party I could not. But it seems like everyone regardless of income spends on those parties.[/quote]

My kids have spring birthdays, so we did playground parties when they were little. We lived near two really good playgrounds, one was next to a community center and one was next to a library, so we knew there would be bathrooms available. We also did them as brunch parties with donuts because it was cooler in the mornings. It gets harder when they're older and have sports. Then the evening parties make more sense.[/quote]

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