3 Year Old Birthday Party

Admit it..Birthday parties for 1-3 year olds are really for you and your kid's friend's parents...Ultimately your child won't remember the party. My daughter missed her ENTIRE 3rd birthday party-the moonbounce, the mini carousel, the cupcakes with hand painted gum paste butterflies that I slaved over- because at the moment her party was set to begin, she tripped and split her chin open. 7 stitches is pretty much all she remembers of the day and strangly enough, she is rather pleased about the whole thing. She tells pretty much everyone about her "party" and shows them jher chin. For me, the day was a HUGE disappointment-on SO many levels. Not only was Lulu's perfect chin now full of blue thread but the hours and hours I had spent on her party felt wasted. There were still 30 people at our house but Lulu wasn't there. I had so badly wanted her to have a day about her because she had a new baby brother who takes alot of attention from her. Funny enough, the day was about her and BOY did she get alot of attention.

The lesson I learned from this whole thing is KEEP THE PARTY SIMPLE...I have heard that it is best to take your child's age, double it and that is how many children will make a comfortable party or at least as comfortable as 5 scampering toddlers can make you...
It is always good to keep it short and sweet. 2 hours seems to be a good amount of time. Try to time it at an hour when your child is in a good mood. For us it was from 10:30-12:30.
A moonbounce is a great addtion and keeps the tots busy and CONTAINED. They usually run from $55 and up. If this is too much then you can also pull out some toys, bubbles, sidewalk chalk or simple crafts. I get a little territorial of my daughter's toys after watching her room get destroyed at her 2nd birthday party. I still can't figure out how things ended up wrapped around the blinds on her windows. Especially because the windows are almost five feet up the walls...
Cake- My beautiful cupcakes looked worse for the wear by the time we got back from the ER...nothing like a little heat to make things melt. Grocery stores have fine cupcakes. Its not like the kids really care anyway. Save the time of making them yourself and go get a pedicure instead. I wish I had. Speaking of...my toes look a little scary...
Party favors..can be a big spending item if you aren't careful. 2 great websites for buying cool things online are Orientaltrading.com and plumparty.com

When planning the party just try to make it fun for yourself- and be prepared- lower your expectations because things like stitches can happen.

I am thinking next year I might just take her and a friend to Disneyland.