Reasonable spend for a kid's birthday

Savvy_Sue

jellyhead wrote:

ooops! it was only his first 3 parties, i'm hoping it will be the same for baby roo, he was born july 29th. don't know what i'd do if i'd arranged a picnic and it was raining?!! i'd better formulate a backup plan, i know it's 10 months away but i'm not the most organised or 'with-it' of people

I was lucky, we had a friend down the road with a massive through lounge, so we used to borrow his house for parties after the planned trip to the Lido got rained off ... 6 little kiddies and their mums in OUR titchy lounge was enough just once, wasn't going to do it again! In fairness we did have some good parties in our garden, I turned it into the enchanted wood one year, no idea how!

I think our friend has still got a home-made Thunderbirds hat from one of those parties! :rotfl:

Savvy_Sue

KK wrote:

I try and do different things each year, and for next year I said she could have a few friends and we'd go out together - it's 9 months away and she already thinks she's negotiated me up from 5 friends to 11!

I used to have the same problem with my eldest, he started talking about his next birthday the minute it was over! In the end I told him there were so many other birthdays to come BEFORE his next birthday that we would NOT discuss his any more until after mine! which conveniently is 5 weeks before his.

Of course I would start thinking about it much sooner than that, but it was getting very boring ...

jellyhead

oooh savvy an enchanted wood sounds excellent did you have a magic faraway tree?

lots of kids at school don't ever seem to have parties, not the type that they invite schoolfriends to anyway. some of spud's friends are more likely to have a birthday tea with their cousins etc. and maybe a couple of friends if the parent knows the other parent. in most cases i'd say that not having a party doesn't affect the kids street cred (up to the age of 9 anyhow), some of the most popular kids are always invited to other people's parties but have never had one of their own.

Gingham_Ribbon

I still look up through the leaves when I'm walking in the woods. Just hoping that there'll be a ladder at the top, or a load of washing water, or a little door in the side...

An enchanted wood party... Now THAT'S special!

jellyhead

i would have liked it lol!

does anyone live near shropshire? wonderland in telford has fairy tale cottages in the woods, magical for toddlers, still fun for kids up to about 6 probably. there's a playbarn for if it rains and a maze you can get lost in.

Gingham_Ribbon

Sounds lovely.

I partly blame Enid Blyton for my regular yearnings for a country life. The rest of the blame goes to James Herriot!

I love where I live, but it's just not sparkly like that!!!

kazd

I have just bought my daughter The Magic Faraway Tree actually its the first three books in one and she is loving it.

Frugal_Fox

Hi - We have a budget at the start of the year of £50 for birthday presents, £20 for Christmas and £30 for 'party' bits - with anything unspent being deposited in their bank!

We like to celebrate the day they were born (even though they were born to other parents - we adopted them) as that day is particularly special to them. Previously we have had a 'proper' party at home - ie party games, lots of noise and party food - sandwiches, cheese & pineapple (yes really!), sausage rolls etc - and I always make an effort to make a special cake of their choice - including a crocodile, a ginger cat for our little boy, and a fairy castle and merry go round for our daughter. This year our son wants a dinosaur. This year both children want a disco - so they are each having a 'birthday tea' for 4 friends, where they can choose the menu and drink (within reason), and a small party bag consisting of cake, sweets, a polystyrene plane to make, and a balloon or two. Then in December have hired the local hall and will give them a disco to share - with us providing the music, lights etc and food.

For Christmas we do not spend much - they get spoilt by our families - and they really do not need very much at all...

Lovely to read about other peoples ideas - and great that so few of us seem keen to 'keeping up with the Jones' in the birthday stakes!

NervousYetFeisty

This year for party bags I searched ebay and got 20 little Lego kits for £10 (inc PO fee and P&P). Two multi bags of Haribo and Maltesers came to £3 (on offer but there is always something similar going cheap), 2 x packs of 10 bouncy balls for a quid, £1.50 (-ish) for two packs of 12 glitter pens, all from Morrisons. In short I did 20 very, very good (imo) party bags for £15. You could of course do it way cheaper but these were smart - the Lego will get used most likely, and I feel better giving this than spending a little less on yet more plastic crap, iykwim.
For the bags, I bought cheap A4 sized envelopes (spent about a quid again I think). I ran off personalised sheets fitting the party theme on the printer and got the children to decorate these as they arrived (good as a bit of crowd control), which the children stuck onto the envelopes. You could of course print directly onto the envelopes if your printer's big enough. Print spares though, too!

In_for_a_Bargain

How about ten pin bowling.Have just been for our Son (he is 14), but they do good deals for younger childrens parties with meal included. As for presents I think £50 - £60 max is plenty especially just before Christmas.