I LOVE at home birthday parties, way more than venue parties. That being said, I do think you need to have planned activities and yes, people are going to come in your house. Kids can't hold it for 2 hours and adults will also need to use your bathroom.

We always plan for at least 5 games and I know that sounds crazy, but kids attention spans are very short. They can be easy games like pin the tail and musical chairs. I've been to parties where the hosts did nothing and even the kids thought they weren't fun.

Anonymous wrote:OP here- Yes, it was a custom cake(small, 6 inches) and 40 cupcakes. I know, I felt terrible as I paid it. I assumed it was the NOVA craziness, now I feel even worse

Wow. We pay $250 for a custom fancy 8" cake in Md.
do a home party. $300 will get you a big bounce house delivered with slides. Set up a canopy for shade. Get a sheet cake.

Anonymous wrote:OP here- Yes, it was a custom cake(small, 6 inches) and 40 cupcakes. I know, I felt terrible as I paid it. I assumed it was the NOVA craziness, now I feel even worse

I get Safeway cakes. No one cares. They are tasty. Costco cakes are yummy too but there isn’t one near our house.

I’ve done parties at home. Cleaning before and after is a pain.

I love parities at people’s houses. It is easier to talk to other guests.

Okay, so I’ve done both (never $600 for a cake though!!! Wegman’s ALL the way). The kids aren’t going to stay outside. They will come in, your house is going to be a mess after that and if you can accept that, then go for it.

Unfortunately, I have a type a daughter who nearly had a fit after her in-house birthday because her dollhouse had been rearranged so i think we’re done with in-house parties for a little while. BUT, I did discover that you can have pool parties at the Fairfax County Rec Centers. For $150, 12 kids can swim for an hour and then you have the party room for an hour. Sold. Best part is I don’t need to clean the house!

I think you can institute the idea of "every other year we do a big party and the other year we do a family party" OR every other year we do an out of house party with all the kids and the other year we do a home party with all the kids.

Kids will come into the house to go to the bathroom, as will parents. But you can set up the party table, food, drinks, etc outside in the yard, have hot dogs and hamburgers at the grill, and have the party outside so 20 kids aren't playing in your house. But, yes, you'll need to allow people to run inside for the bathroom, to change their baby, or to grab more ice cubes

Anonymous wrote:You paid $600 for a cake? Six HUNDRED dollars? Is that in US money?

+1
This can’t be for real????
Don’t do your yard bc yes people will go in. Just book space at a park or better yet a laser tag bday party, let him invite his class and call it a day. He’ll have more fun anyways than some over the top party.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've done two birthdays at Bowlero in Tyson's. The kids bowl for two hours, the venue brings out unlimited food with a cookie cake, and the kids get cards for the arcade when bowling is done.

I think it's been like $400 all-in for 10 kids each time. A wonderful bargain with no home mess.

we did similar but for 20 kids at White Oak duckpin lanes. Custom cake from Wegmans was $65. The venue was maybe $400, including pizza and drinks for kids AND adults.

I am curious about bowling parties. Do parents typically stay or do you end up having to watch several lanes of kids bowling? If adults stay, do you pay for them to bowl? Do adults rsvp in advance?

I'm the PP above with White Oak - we just had the kids bowl, adults mingled amongst themselves. The kids actually didn't want to keep score or play anything organized, they just wanted to hurl balls at pins and it was fine! We reserved 3 lanes for an hour of bowling, and a party room for another hour. The party room only fits one long table for kids, so adults again just mingled outside.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've done two birthdays at Bowlero in Tyson's. The kids bowl for two hours, the venue brings out unlimited food with a cookie cake, and the kids get cards for the arcade when bowling is done.

I think it's been like $400 all-in for 10 kids each time. A wonderful bargain with no home mess.

we did similar but for 20 kids at White Oak duckpin lanes. Custom cake from Wegmans was $65. The venue was maybe $400, including pizza and drinks for kids AND adults.

I am curious about bowling parties. Do parents typically stay or do you end up having to watch several lanes of kids bowling? If adults stay, do you pay for them to bowl? Do adults rsvp in advance?

If you don’t want all the kids at/in your house, rent a pavilion at a park. It’s still cheap and they usually have bathrooms.

Anonymous wrote:We've done two birthdays at Bowlero in Tyson's. The kids bowl for two hours, the venue brings out unlimited food with a cookie cake, and the kids get cards for the arcade when bowling is done.

I think it's been like $400 all-in for 10 kids each time. A wonderful bargain with no home mess.

we did similar but for 20 kids at White Oak duckpin lanes. Custom cake from Wegmans was $65. The venue was maybe $400, including pizza and drinks for kids AND adults.

$600 for a cake that’s not a wedding cake! And here I am looking at those $60 cakes sitting in the case at nice bakeries thinking “Treat yourself this year, you’re turning 40! Nah too much $$$ for a cake.”

They run around your yard or a park, and have cake.

Anonymous wrote:OP- Thank you all! I was feeling bad for being the cheap mom with all the lavish parties around, appreciate all the feedback!

I threw my kindergartner a simple playground birthday party. Invited the class, held it rain or shine (it rained) and made sure the adults had a covered spot to hang out. Kids got soaked and had a blast. I offered bags of chips, juice boxes and grocery store cupcakes. We made small goodie bags and I said "no gifts!". It probably cost $200 total. I had 2 moms come up and THANK ME for starting a trend in kindergarten for keeping it simple haha.

My kids know we don't do lavish parties. If they want to do something "fancier" it's with a very small group. They already get to do so much fun stuff, it's not only reserved for their birthdays. Of course I try to make their day special, but we do that outside of the party because little kids can only handle so much "special" in one day. Big parties can also be super stressful for young ones.

Keep it simple, host with fun and love, and it'll all be fine.

My kids have been to full class parties at a play place and home parties with 5 other kids. As long as they get cake (usually Giant or Wegmans in our circles) and to see their friends, they honestly don't care.

Anonymous wrote:Your kid isn’t going to be able to tell the difference between a $600 cake/cupcake combo and ones you make at home using $6 cake mix. You did that to impress the other moms.

I swear I did not know. We moved to the states two years ago, I had no idea.