posted on September 2, 2000 09:34:53 PM new
My younger son is turning 8 on Monday and we're having his big shindig tomorrow. Got started adding up all I've spent on this birthday and dropped my jaw!
150 for a moon bounce
15 for a bubble machine
25 for a Pokemon cake
50 for his present (one of those dam scooters he hadta hadta have... but I snagged it on eBay and that 50 included shipping and is half of what they are in the stores so I don't feel so bad, lol)
25 for the stuff for those little party goodie bags
40 for pizza being delivered to the beach from Dominoes
30 for sodas, chips, paper plates, napkins, cups, plastic forks and knives, candles, etc etc etc
Shoot, we're looking at about 350 bucks!
And not one contributing penny from my 6 figure earning ex... humph!
How much do YOU spend on a decent birthday for your kids?
posted on September 2, 2000 10:05:38 PM new
True, hardoutfit, and he'll get plenty of that as well... but explaining to an 8 year old why he can't have a birthday party when the rest of his class can on their birthdays isn't gonna happen to this Mom, lol
[ edited by kiheicat on Sep 2, 2000 10:07 PM ]
posted on September 2, 2000 10:10:08 PM new
Kcat,
How you doing? I was always afraid to add what I spent on birthdays, weiner roasts, etc. It just gets too depressing. My only suggestion is if you can afford it then don't worry about it. Just sell a few extra things on Ebay in the next couple of weeks. They are only young once. Enjoy it while you can.
As an addendum, the Mutual fund I bought my daughter for her birthday is really doing well. Hooray! It's in much better shape than the Atomic Burrito stock on which I decided to speculate.
posted on September 2, 2000 10:18:06 PM new kiheicat I wasn't saying not to have a party , just mentioning the icing on the cake ! Hope the party is a big success. Most of all have fun, your son only turns 8 once.
posted on September 3, 2000 01:35:55 AM new
What do we spend on our children's birthday parties? WAY too much, but we have a blast doing it.
We always had parties before we had kids, so when we finally had kids, we just ended up moving the parties to their bdays. So we've always had huge parties for them, roughly 50 to 120 people (about half of which are kids). It's cool...it's not the deal where people drop their kids off for 2 hours..the kids' parents stay and party with us also.
Hubby and I always disagree on how long they should last - usually we go from 2 or 3 PM until about 2 or 3 AM. I figure if I have to clean my house, we may as well get some good use out of it. Sometimes people come and go, and then return later for dinner or the cake or the fireworks.
My daughter was born on July 4th, so we got in the habit of doing fireworks. Naturally the other two kids thought they were missing out, so now we buy enough fireworks for the other two parties and save 'em.
We try to not total up the costs - somehow it's more palatable not knowing. I started to figure it out one time and quit as soon as I realized it was about $200 for soda and juice. Eeek.
I try to do Mexican food or Italian food, except for the Fourth of July...gotta BBQ then. It's great...I always end up with a decent amount of leftovers. We have a few regulars who also show up the day after parties to have leftovers and more cake.
My kids have made up games to play at parties, some were ok and some were really dumb. Gotta have the obligatory pinata, too. I learned very early on that someone was gonna be injured over pinata candy, so I finally got smart and made up individual bags of candy and stuffed those in the pinata. I figured it was better than letting a 12 year old cripple someone's toddler over candy. It's been great fun to watch all the same kids progress through the years on pinata smacking.
Kiheicat: Your ex sounds like a jerk.
But I think it's great that you are still having nice parties for your kids without his help!
Hope he has a wonderful time.
posted on September 3, 2000 06:25:13 AM new
We usually spend $30 or so on a bithday party here; we max out at $50 -- and that includes whatever gift we give the kid-in-question.
One year Milo was a big ol' scary movie fan -- so we held a movie party. We bought her a video (Creature From the Black Lagoon $10) as a gift. I made a cake from scratch ($5 including icing and small toys for topping) that was shaped like a cave (made from a bundt cake and scraps from a round cake) with a monster coming outta the cave. Invitations looked like movie tickets; I printed these myself. We served air popped popcorn ($1 for all of it), generic soda ($5), and your choice of candy (big bag of mixed candy $5). I printed out colouring sheets of monsters for take home gifts; we bought a jumbo box of crayons and divided those up to go with the colouring sheets. I covered the windows with dark garbage bags (which we used later as *gasp* garbage bags) and sheets to darken the room. My husband and I dressed as ushers. We purposely delayed the start of the film from the advertised time to give my sister (the ringer!) a chance to start the kids chanting, "Mooooo-vie! Mooooo-vie!" ). We held an intermission to cut the cake -- and then started the second feature (my sister knew the plan -- so she bought King Kong as her gift to Milo).
Kids seemed to enjoy it. The adults seemed to enjoy it (Milo is homeschooled and about half her good friends are 20 yrs old and up). Worked out well - didn't break our (meagre) budget.
EDITED because I started flipping through the photo album and remembered some other touches with this party. I asked a local theatre if I could by 20 popcorn boxes and cups from 'em. The manager just gave 'em to me. We also had a flash light on hand to scan the "audience" when they were makin' too much noise! The kids loved stuff like that -- one of 'em made a big deal about sneaking in to the movie. LOL! It really was fun. (I'll try to stop strollin' down memory lane now -- 'cause I'm betting the last thing y'all want is to hear the Hassler-family-birthdays-greatest-hits album. LOL!)
--xifene--
http://www.auctionusers.org
[ edited by xifene on Sep 3, 2000 06:27 AM ]
[ edited by xifene on Sep 3, 2000 06:30 AM ]
posted on September 3, 2000 06:37:03 AM new
We've never done huge parties for our 4 kids, I usually make them a Punch Bowl cake, invite 4-6 friends for an over nighter, and a couple of gifts. Cost is usually around $100. Grandparents usually drop in for some cake too. Dinner is usually pizza or tacos, the birthday kid gets to choose the meal.
We did do a Bowling party for our daughter when she turned 13 this year, the bowling alley provided pizza and pop, 1 hour of bowling for up to 10 people, we took our own cake. I think it was $50 for the bowling alley charge, but I'd have to look up the exact cost.
Lots of kids around here do Laser Quest parties, but they are expensive, $11 per person and you must have at least 6 going, plus you have to pay extra for pizza etc.
If anyone wants the Punch Bowl cake recipe, let me know and I'll post it. One full recipe of it makes 20-30 servings.
posted on September 3, 2000 08:59:36 AM new"How much do YOU spend on a decent birthday for your kids?"
I quit counting when the total passed $400. I wanted to throw a Willy Wonka party complete with a fully functional chocolate room. It was a blast. There was candy everywhere. All Wonka candy at that. There was an edible table cloth pattern. Candy stuck on the walls. Giant sucker trees. There was a "guess the flavor" gum machine. And we all ate the dirt with worms in it. We made some great memories. But that is about it. I will never do that again. That is until next year.
posted on September 3, 2000 10:37:26 AM new
hardoutfit thanks for clarifying.
Wow, sounds like some GREAT parties! I remember my 6th birthday party because we were living in Massachusetts and on the day of my party we had a HUGE blizzard so nobody could come. I was very upset so my Mom went around the neighborhood with a sled and rounded up some of the neighbor kids ...
And then there was my 17th when my Mom threw me a surprise party that I found out about early on so I humored her, lol
And I remember my older son's 7th birthday because it's the day we left my ex... incredibly long story...MUCH happier times since
posted on September 3, 2000 11:39:55 AM new
I'm going to bet the napalm comes out afater I post this, but the kind of beaucoup-bucks birthday party some you folks talk about "giving" is a serious turnoff to me on a whole lot of levels.
xifene and Meya homemade deals sound like a lot more fun - and actually require Mom and Dad to do something more than pull out the credit card and act as chauffeur. Kinda the difference between sending your kid to basketball camp and taking the time to shoot a few hoops with her yourself...
posted on September 3, 2000 12:28:23 PM new
kiheicat,
If you have the money & want to spend it this way, I see nothing wrong with it. GREAT Childhood Memories are often a result & those are priceless.
My daughter attends a private school where some parents think nothing of dropping $1000 on a birthday party. Yet these are some of the nicest & most polite parents & children you could ask for because the school is focused on academics & everyone there is seriously devoted to education.
One birthday, we had the kids out to our farm. They spent the day riding the pony, taking crazy rides around the farm in the golf cart, enjoying a scavenger hunt which took them all over the farm & playing on the tire swing.
The parents all got to kick back & enjoy sitting out by the creek bank & be reminded of gentler days gone by. More than one parent ended up in the creek, wading along or skipping stones.
When they left, my daughter got the ultimate compliment, many kids told her she was the "luckiest kid in school" to have all this!
So there ARE creative & relatively, inexpensive ways to make great birthday memories.
Then again, I'm the one who took my daughter to New York City for shopping on Fifth Avenue for her 13th birthday!
posted on September 3, 2000 12:51:19 PM new
Meya,
I would love to have your Punch Cake Recipe, we will be having the 5th and 6th birthday's coming up soon. I always have the bakery make them, but might try my own this year. Heather
posted on September 3, 2000 01:06:07 PM new
I think the $$$ don't matter as much as the memories. You work hard for your money and if a birthday bash is the way you want to spend it - I think that's great.
OTH, mega cash outlay isn't a necessary ingredient. I've gone both ways on my kids parties and no one remembers or cares now what any of them cost - just the good times had.
posted on September 3, 2000 01:10:24 PM new
Okie dokie, here goes. You need a Punch Bowl or large bowl such as a Tupperware Cake Taker to prepare this in.
Read through first to make sure you have everything ready.
Buy these items:
1 White Cake mix
2-12 oz Cool Whip
3 boxes Strawberry Jello
3-10 oz. boxes Frozen Strawberries
1 box vanilla pudding
Remove the Cool Whip from the freezer and thaw in the frig at least 6 hours before you need it, the night before is best. Don't stir the Cool Whip, it turns it into liquid!
Bake the cake mix in two round layers. Let cool, then slice each layer into two so you end up with 4 layers. Easiest way to do this is with a piece of sewing thread and some toothpicks. Put toothpicks around the edge of the layer at the half way, then lay the thread around the cake, crossing the ends in front. Slowly pull the ends which will pull the thread through the cake neatly slicing it in two.
Make the 3 boxes of jello using 3 cups boiling water, making sure to dissolve it well. Add the 3 boxes of frozen strawberries to the jello (instead of cold water). Break up the strawberries to finish thawing them, place in the frig until it sets up most of the way. It's better to have the jello mixture pretty set up, if it's too runny it is hard to work with.
Make the pudding.
Now layer the ingredients starting with a little bit of pudding. Then layer the rest:
cake layer
1/4 of the pudding
1/4 of the strawberry mixture
1/2 of one of the 12 oz Cool Whip,
Continue until all is layered, ending with Cool Whip to cover. You can serve it right away, or put it in the frig until needed. It's best to make the morning of when you need it, and should be eaten within a day or two as it starts getting "weepy" if it sits too long.
If you don't need the whole recipe, you can make half using just 2 layers in the large Tupperware mixing bowl. I've done this making cup cakes out of half of the cake mix.
Works best in a clear punch bowl so you can see the layers. I'm sure it would be good with raspberry as well.
[ edited by Meya on Sep 3, 2000 01:12 PM ]
posted on September 3, 2000 01:12:01 PM new
HCQ: No nalpalm, but....
In my case there is significantly more to this than whipping out charge cards. It takes us about a week as a family to put together a party (and the parties have always been "for" all of us, not just the birthday kid.
I cook everything...that alone takes about two days and the kids get involved with that. We don't normally keep our house exactly spotless - too busy living in it, so this party stuff becomes a good push for us to actually do a really good job three or four times a year. The kids do their fare share of mess-making, so it seems reasonable to have them help clean it...and getting to have a party is a good incentive for them.
About two days before the party I start making the cakes. It takes me about 8 hours to do the baking alone. The following morning the birthday kid and I decorate it with whatever lamebrained theme they've picked this year. Thankfully we are done with the Disney cakes now. Did my fair share of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cakes, too. It's exhausting, but it's fun for the kids.
My kids make up the games. They have gotten harder over the years but we always have at least a few games that a two year old can play. We end up with entire families coming, not just one kid...so the age spread is pretty wide. Lately my kids have been sectioning off the yard and having "skill" games where you win prizes. Nothing like a game of scoop up the plastic duck with a spoon game to keep the two year olds happy. The bigger kids take turns running the games for the smaller kids. We've always lucked out on weather, which is weird in Oregon, so a lot of the party is outside. We have water balloon fights and foot races, backwards and sideways races, hopping on one foot while making dumb noises races, etc.
Very little of the stuff we do or use or eat is stuff we just went out and bought. We, as a family, cooked it or made it (notable exception is fireworks!). We even make the pinatas now - of course, you can't always tell what it's supposed to be. But hey, they did get to play with glue and newspaper and paint and make a glorious mess doing it.
So, yeah, this is more than we NEED to do, but I don't think it makes me a bad parent. And there is way more to this than signing charge card receipts.
Xifene: We do the movie night thing, too. Computer-printed tickets, the flashlight, the popcorn cups, the candy - sounds very familiar. It's fun. It'd be more fun if my kids had better taste in movies though.
posted on September 3, 2000 02:19:02 PM newargh - Sorry; I forgot to list you along with meya and xifene. I think your posts show that you can indeed have a big, wild and incredibly fun bash without doing the Chuck-E-Cheese/Fun Factory copout. The point to your festivities is that you DO do something (something? A lot!) more than pull out the Visa, AND you expect the kids to get more involved with the planning than "take me to X". I'm sure they're learning a wonderful lesson in how to be great hosts!
You work hard for your money and if a birthday bash is the way you want to spend it - I think that's great.
My grandfather "worked hard for his money." The way HE wanted to "spend it" on my grandmother for her birthday - and what he always did - was to give her the checkbook and tell her to go have fun (?), buy herself something nice. I think my grandmother would've been happier if he'd just taken the trouble to bring her morning coffee in bed on her birthday, or even bought her something weird like a vacuum cleaner.
After several decades, she got the nerve to clue him in that it wasn't how much he spent, but the love and energy he invested in it that mattered.
He went to the jeweler's and picked out a hideous $20 pendant with a diamond chip which she never would have chosen for herself. She was so delighted with his effort she wore it every day until she died.
mybidness - there is no "art" to following the instructions on a box of Betty Crocker and opening a can of icing, but it does take time and energy.
[ edited by HartCottageQuilts on Sep 3, 2000 02:22 PM ]
posted on September 3, 2000 02:35:03 PM newHCQ I too have been gifted with obscenely ugly gifts - and it doesn't matter cause it's the thought that counts. That's my point - the $$$ don't matter as much as the memories. Even and sometimes especially if it's something that requires 00000 bucks - who cares?
It doesn't sound to me like Cat is throwing money at a party - but putting herself into it as well - that's what her kids will remember.
I confess to having baked a few cakes in my time - but the main ingredient it takes is an interest or desire. Just not my cup of tea. I did make a mean Batman cake once... Problem is it's one form of art that people insist on eating. All that work and it's gone!
posted on September 3, 2000 02:59:21 PM new
HCQ: My MIL does that check thing - I really dislike it. She used to just mail my kids a large check every year and that was the end of her involvement with them. I have my charming SIL to thank for the check thing; apparently one year her mother bought her something she considered tacky and she was quite verbal in letting her mother know just how much she hated it. My MIL has not bought anyone a gift since then - it's always been checks. To me, telling someone that their gift is ugly is far tackier than even the butt-ugliest thing out there.
I'm glad your grandmother got a personal gift from your grandfather - it really, truly is the effort that can make a gift worth treasuring.
The worst present I ever gave anybody was one of my first "handcrafted" items. I was five years old, and I was visiting my grampa. He helped me make this - dunno what he was thinking. It was a wedding gift for my aunt and uncle. I took a cantaloupe, cut it into sections, and carved lovely little designs into it. Boxed it up all nice. I do remember them having funny looks on their faces when they opened it...struck me as odd at the time!
The worst part was that all of their wedding presents were stolen while they were gone on their honeymoon; none was recovered. Wonder what the theives thought of those foul-looking THINGS in that box?
I'm doing much better now with my handcrafted items, by the way.
posted on September 3, 2000 03:30:29 PM new
Spent the day hiking with my family; conversations turned to birthdays pretty quick since we're coming up on one in October.
She wants a bar-b-que this year -- no theme in particular. Invite everyone we know -- since we're new in the area and we homeschool (but aren't qualified for the local homeschool group) this isn't all that many folks -- the invitation list will include our three regular postal clerks, two folks who work at the local Subway, our Priest, two Brothers, the kids down the road, and our landlords. LOL!
(Okay -- so it isn't really on topic. But it was fun walkin' with her and listening to her plan this party. She's visualized the invitations and decided on a colour scheme. She thought through how we'd manage to seat some many folks -- and what we'll serve. She wants tofu dogs, hamburgers, pasta salad and corn. We'll probably ask folks to brings a side dish. Is that tacky?? Ah, well. )
posted on September 3, 2000 05:12:57 PM new
Well, Miss Manners thinks that if you invite people to a party, you should provide them with refreshments, not ask them to bring food. I think it's all in the way it's presented to the invitees.
As long as we're moderately OT, the 37th floor at my Boston law firm had an annual bakeoff, which was started and run by one of the junior partners. About 3 dozen people generally entered, and you'd be amazed at how many high-powered megabucks partners with "status bellies" (beer bellies, but with a tie and jacket) stayed up all night to prepare their entries! It was simultaneously very, very serious business - glasses of water between tastes to clear the palate, etc. - and a great good time.
Maybe a "cookoff" would be a good springboard for a potluck. It might encourage some folks to do more than bring a bag of Doritos.
posted on September 3, 2000 05:31:01 PM new
My best birthday party as a child---we did a donkey pinata (big stuff in the early sixties in PA--my big sis was living in CA and sent it East)--sorry to digress but that is what I remember. Also, the family birthday I had in 1959 when I got my first Barbie. Not a hindsight sour grapes--just the reality of what a big deal I thought this was at that age. Me--always whining that I wanted more dresses for my Barbie. Me and a few kids had a grand time exchanging costumes and trying out the fashions our girl friends had. Really Really such simple pleasures. Parents forget that the expectations of children are a hell of a lot less than the parents. K-Cat--you have bought into the whole bru--ha--ha. Remember--just be there for your kids--they will remember that more so than any other big production you decide to employ. Now you have me curious--off to email my boys and ask them what their favorite party or non-party was that I threw for them. My sorta brain strain was the pizza roller rink birthday party I coordinated for the young one. I got a theory about this--just from personal experience--but will keep quiet until I hear from them.
posted on September 3, 2000 07:13:14 PM new
I spent under 20.00. My kids only get birthday parties on their 8th and 12th birthdays. On their 12th they get 20.00 to do whatever they want with they plan the party. On the last one we had for 8 years old we made a pinata out of balloons and newspaper and flour glue. Cost 1.49 for the balloons. Then the candy to go in it cost about 6.00 and I bought tiny little toys at the thrift shop. Steam cleaned them and stuck them in. Price for them 2.00 I made the cake for 1.89 and Ice cream was on sale for 3.00. I then finished it off with a penny run. 5.00 worth of pennies I threw off the back deck and let the kids go get em..keep what they found. It was a blast and didn't break me.
Oddish~ The Odd One
posted on September 3, 2000 07:17:21 PM new
Oh another really fun thing is "dirt" Take one pack of oreo cookies or like me no name brand. Open them and scoop out the cream filling. Crush them in a million pieces. Then make chocolate pudding and mix it with one tub cool whip. Put a small amount of cookies in the bottom of a cup fill with pudding mix and put cookie mix on top. One gummy worm coming out the top. It looks just like dirt. One little boy at the party looked at me strange though and said "my mom won't let me eat dirt " :LOL
Oddish~ The Odd One
