kid’s birthday party

I’m a firm believer that if your Mamma doesn’t make a HUGE fuss over your birthday, then who will? Now I’m not saying break the bank on every single birthday for over-the-top parties, gifts galore, and food better than what you had at your wedding, but here’s a few super special traditions that let your birthday boy or girl know you think they’re the bees’ knees and some easy Mom Hacks to take the stress out of throwing a birthday party.

The Big Day Hacks

Decorate Their Door– More than any party or gift, my kids are beyond ecstatic when they wake up on their birthday to find their bedroom doors covered in balloons, crepe paper, and a birthday sign. Decorating the birthday boy or girl’s door while they sleep is inexpensive, super easy, and so worth the payoff when they wake up to see their surprise. Decorated doors are now expected in this house and this year my kids decorated my door for my birthday—seriously, how sweet is that?

Cupcake Breakfast- Around here, if it’s someone’s birthday, you can bet there will be cupcakes for breakfast. Is it over the top, yes. Is a cupcake a good food choice for the morning, absolutely not. Is it a special treat your kids will love, you betcha. I have grand visions of sending cupcakes to my kids when they grow up and are off at college. Maybe it will be a reminder to call their Mom Every Single Day.

Birthday Present Scavenger Hunt– Make their birthday morning an adventure by leaving clues so the birthday kiddo has to go on a scavenger hunt in your house to find their present. The first clue can be waiting on their decorated door.

Birthday Party Hacks

Use What You’ve Got- If the party theme is also your child’s favorite toy, use those toys as part of the décor! Put those Octonauts in the punch bowl and let them go for a swim. Create a Hulk Smash cake with a Hulk action figure. Got a Minions crazed kiddo? Use their Minion figures to decorate the food table.

Pain Free Piñata– Confession: I loathe piñatas at parties. I know, I know, that’s a major kid party foul. Bring out a piñata and the kids get all Hunger Games and that paper candy holder usually isn’t the only fallen tribute. Save everyone a few black eyes and tears by filling your piñata with goodie bags rather than individual candy. When the piñata breaks, everyone grabs a bag and I can breathe a sigh of relief the piñata part is over.

Ice Cream Hack- Don’t get mobbed by ice cream hungry kids at your next party. Pre-scoop ice cream into cupcake liners, place them on a cookie sheet or metal baking tray and pop them in the freezer. When it’s time to serve cake and ice cream, you won’t be up to your elbows in the dessert.

Jazz Up The Balloons– Don’t spend a fortune on decor when you can grab bags of balloons from the Dollar Store and get a little crafty by:

Adding tiny pom poms to the balloons
Putting glow sticks inside for a glow-in-the-dark surprise
Attaching the balloon strings to golf tees and lining the yard or driveway for a grand entrance.

Give Store Bought Cakes a Facelift– Save yourself a lot of money by using these tricks to turn ordinary store bought cakes into extraordinary birthday treats

Make Glitter Sprinkles with ¼ cup sugar and 2 teaspoon of food coloring. Bake on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes on 350 degree and you will get Glitter Sprinkles! Yes, glitter sprinkles! Cover cakes, cupcakes, and cookies with this sparklely treat.
Make fun designs on the cake using a cookie cutter or a Play-Doh Cutter as a stencil. Lay the cutter on the cake and fill the inside with colorful sprinkles. So cute!
Add Jell-O to white frosting to change the flavor and add a rainbow of colors to your next cake
Make your own cake topper by finding free images online and printing them on cardstock. Cut the images out, attach tiny skewers, and place the skewers in the cake for a special 3-D look

Balloon Drop- Want to hear the sounds of sheer joy? Create a balloon drop by taping two a plastic table clothes together with painter’s tape (the kind that is sticky but not too sticky). Attach a few long strings on the end of the seam. Attach the table clothes to the ceiling or a ceiling fan and fill with balloons. When you are ready for the drop, one good pull on the strings will make it rain balloons. Yay balloons!

Birthdays should just be really, really, really fun. After all, you’re a mom and that means you probably won’t get to blow your own candles out ever again. And, I’m OK with that.

This post originally ran on my other blog AmandaMushro.com

If you are new to this parenting gig let me share a little something with you: there will be a time when your entire weekend is spent attending other children’s birthday parties. Don’t fight it. Just go with it, friends. Currently we are knee deep in preschool classmates birthday parties, but I’m cool with it because I get pizza and cake too.

Being at a birthday party at the local bouncy house and watching my son run wild through the inflatables made me think of a time when I would be holding my breath and praying for the party to be over. Oh what a difference a year makes. So if you missed it the first time, let’s revisit…

The Gauntlet: Conquering the Inflatable

The blaring music hurts your ears and you have to scream to talk to the person next to you. The bright lights are flashing strobes that make you dizzy when you walk, and some girl is crying in the corner. No, this isn’t a scene from a trendy club on a Friday night; this is a four-year-old’s birthday party at a bouncy house, and if the ambiance isn’t enough to make you feel a little trippy, the effects from the party will.

Our first visit to this assault-on-your-senses-birthday-party-venue happened when I was über pregnant with my daughter and my wasn’t even two years old. I was ecstatic to sit for a few hours while my son bounced his little self into a birthday party induced coma. I was completly content watching my little guy scamper off into one inflatable contraption after another, but it was an ominous one called “The Gauntlet” that should’ve come with a warning

The Gauntlet was different from the rock walls or round bouncers he happily bounded across because once a kid climbed into a little tube, you couldn’t see them until they reemerged sliding down a huge incline. Honestly, you would have better luck sending your kid into a crack house hoping they coming out with less baggage and trauma.

Once my boy disappeared into the tubes of The Gauntlet, I started talking to another party-goers dad. After a few minutes faint cries started to rise above LAMFO’s Party Rock Anthem.

Do you hear something?

When the cries got louder, I realized it was my boy!! Because I was the size of a whale, climbing in and rescuing him wasn’t an option so I sent the dad I was chatting with to fish him out.

Emerging from the bright blue tubes was a terrified, tear-stained boy that simply wanted out of bouncy house hell. Every corner was packed with more inflatables, too many kids, and ear thumping bass music made it impossible to find a quiet spot to just sit and chill for a few minutes. Party fail for my boy.

Every time we received a birthday invitation to that bouncy house, I sent up a silent prayer he wouldn’t remember getting stuck or would be big enough to conquer the Mount Everest of inflatables.

At the next few parties I kept a close eye on him and put up a mom sized roadblock in front of The Gauntlet. This plan worked until I had to wrangle two kids solo at a party and they both took off in different directions.

I chased after the little one because she was likely to start a pint-sized revolt and overtake the cake table. It was like déjà vu: the music and lights were so bright and loud, someone was probably sent into a seizure, and behind all the ruckus were faint, panicked cries. He was stuck in the dam Gauntlet again. Crap…

This time he knew to get out the way he entered, but the damage was done. I covered him in kisses and told him he was so brave and so smart for getting out when he was stuck. I even offered to join him in The Gauntlet so he knew he could make it through unscathed, but he wanted no parts of that solution or most of the party.

Two weeks later, his best buddy had his party at the same venue, and I was fully prepared to bring a pair of scissors. You know, in case The Gauntlet looked at me the wrong way. The party was in full swing when he booked it over to The Gauntlet. I panicked, but this time something pretty awesome happened. He conquered The Gauntlet all on his own. His face when he came sliding down to the bottom: priceless. I imagine this is what a Heisman Trophy Winner’s mom feels like. OK, that’s a bit much (not really, it’s totally what they feel). My pal caught this photo of my boy and I celebrating his success.