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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Please don't get me started on this.  It is a REALLY big pet peeve of mine.  Birthday parties are supposed to be about the birthday child but in this area it is about the kids coming to the party. People invite kids they aren't even close with, sometimes up to 20-30 people for kids as young as 5. Entertain them, give them tons of food and send them home with bags of goodies that cost at least $5 sometimes $10 of stuff.  There is a focus on the child for 10 seconds to sing happy birthday and then off everyone leaves. You are hundreds of dollars out and half the time the birthday kid is overwhelmed.

I have house parties and while we do entertain and have fun things, I also make sure my children open every birthday present and thank their friends individually. It teaches kids watching patience, value of a gift making someone happy, and sense of self worth.  It teaches the birthday child manners, appreciation, and friendship fulfillment.  Many of these qualities are missing at these parties.

My rules for house parties. Child limit is no more than double their age.  My 4yr old had 6 people for a Princess Tea Party this year, my 7yr old had 12 for his carnival themed party, and my 12yr old had 21 for her olympic games party.  To her defense, she switched schools this past year and had about 10 close friends from each. I think my limit should be under 20 though :)

Once the number of kids get over 10, we do present games to keep everyone interested.  Guess one thing besides your gift the child will get. Put it on a scrap of paper and if he opens it, you show me your slip and you get a little prize (2 hershey kisses.)  The 7yr old boys LOVED that this year.

My older daughter did present BINGO.  The board was 3x3 and it had options for gifts. Options were visa gift card, food item, store gift card, accessories, locker item, clothing, sport item, wrapping paper with red in it, gift bag.  Each card was different.  It was fun!  I based it on years of gifts her friends tend to give her.

Anyway, the kids love it and they look forward to our house parties. My kids get very into planning and we do fun crazy games. Cost never goes above $100 except for the last one for my 12yr old.

We also do NOT do party bags.  We burn CD's with the child's favorite 10-15 songs of the year.  Cheap, fun and not a waste.  Younger kids listen to them in the car, older kids burn them into their iPod. [/quote]

Do party bingo but not based on gifts.  You don't want to hear it but it's true that my kids come home and COMPLAIN how they watched your kid open presents.  [/quote]

Your kid sounds like a douche in training.

They should be glad they were invited in the first place.

Secondly, they should realize the party is about the birthday kid--not them, and that as an INVITED GUEST in someone's home it is DESPAIRINGLY POOR manners to insult the way the host conducts their affairs.

So this is how harping adults are created? It begins in childhood with parents who do not correct their child's poor ettiquette and judgmental, self-absorbed behavior.

If your child doesn't want to watch children open gifts, keep him/her home from the party. They can run their own parties in the way they see fit when its their big day.[/quote]

A douche-in-training.  LOL

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