I need advice planning a NYC birthday party for my two-year-old. It will be winter so an outdoor picnic is out and a fu n, organized party at [insert name of popular indoor playspace in NYC] costs $895 for 11 kids, + $32/ per extra kid, plus $150 for an extra staffer once you go above 11 kids. That’s $1,100 for 1 ½ hours that my soon-to-be two-year-old won’t even remember.
That’s ridiculous, right?
The thought of entertaining 10-15 kids in our 1BR apartment sounds way too complicated and we’d scrap the whole thing if we didn’t think the guilt would kill us. Suggestions?
Signed, A Fellow NYC Mom
Dear Fellow NYC Mom,
Unfortunately, I am in the same boat. Mazzy’s birthday is in December and it does appear like unless you are the grandchild of Donald Trump and have the funds for a baby disco birthday blowout at Marquee, kids with winter birthdays in Manhattan are SCREWED.
My solution is to throw Mazzy’s party at my dad’s apartment which is substantially bigger than mine and pray none of the kids fall into the free standing fireplace or hit their heads on the slab of granite masquerading as the coffee table. I’ll probably hire a musician (one guitar player from Music for Aardvarks costs $200) and get some Colossal Cupcakes ($42) from Crumbs Bakeshop (my new official sponsor!) and call it a day.
No matter where you decide to have the party (might I suggest the Scholastic Store in SOHO where parties start at $499?), the important thing to remember is that two-year-olds are very easily entertained.
My friend Emily threw a lovely party in her apartment for her son Charlie and all she did for entertainment was have her brother-in-law and his friend show up in a lion and a penguin costume.
The kids reacted like a bunch of 12 year-old girls in the presence of the cast of Twilight and nobody even noticed that the penguin was trying to kill them until after the party was over and the photos surfaced (see penguin’s eyes above as evidence of clear murderous intent). One day rental of such a costume is $125. Or if you’re my friend and your sister works for the Bronx Zoo, you can get them for free.
Even though your child won’t actually remember the party, the pictures last forever. So why not take a lesson from my friend Brooke who threw her one-year-old Styler a Superman themed party complete with a fabulously simple step and repeat?
Packages (including the red carpet) start at $179 from Redcarpetrunway.com and as we all know, a party with a step and repeat is the VERY DEFINITION of a party worth attending. Best of all, the whole thing can easily be put in the hallway outside your apartment.
(Hmmmm…. what would Mazzy’s step and repeat be?? A Mommy Shorts logo? Minnie Mouse’s head? Lucie’s evil face glaring at the partygoers daring them to steal the gifts?)
Another option for people who don’t have the room (or the weather) for pony rides and bouncy castles is a space-saving balloon animal artist for around $75 an hour. He’ll fit easily in a corner between a side table and a plant.
But if one extra head will throw your apartment party over the edge or you are dead set against using extra cash for such frivolities, you can always spend your free time learning how to make balloon animals yourself.
Check out how easy it is!
Too much work? Buy a bubble machine for $30. Sit it on top of a high shelf so as not to take away any precious table space. Do you know how much kids love bubbles???
If you still can’t justify the time, money and energy needed to organize a party for your two-year-old, try looking at it from a different perspective. Can you think of any other instance where it is totally permissable to put Elmo’s head on a stick or hack it to pieces with a knife?
SO worth it.
Still not convinced? I hear ya. Just remember to celebrate your kid’s half birthday with pizza in the park.
— MOMMY SHORTS
PS: Anyone else got any indoor party ideas for my NYC friend?
Oh, the 2 year old birthday party.
My solution? We’re not doing one. I know, we suck.
However, as a former event planner, may I suggest trying to DIY most things yourself to save money? E.g. making your own cake, invitation cards, decorations etc. I believe Etsy is chock full of wonderful suppliers who don’t charge an arm and a leg. I read on someone’s blog that they threw their 2 year old a party at an old fashioned ice cream parlor and their theme was , guess it – ice cream! (I believe she also won one of those colossal cupcakes so that was the birthday cake, money saved!). As for venue, er, okay, I’m stumped. Maybe borrow someone’s bigger house, as Ilana suggested.
Good luck!
There is something to be said for skipping it. My 7 year old doesn’t remember her 2 or 3 birthday, and hardly remembers her 4th. I wish I would have kept it simpler, which is why #2 child is getting the big birthday blow off. We have been taking him to Benihana’s (I know the food sucks)and he thinks its awesome – with all the flames and knife throwing.
That being said, I feel for you in NYC. Small spaces and expensive rentals make birthdays more challenging. I will look at my mess of a finished basement and large backyard with more appreciation.
Is there a Build-A-Bear around? You set the price you’re willing to spend per kid . . .
Museum?
Ice cream place? Do a summer in December thing?
Um, or have your party in Jersey? Stop right there! I’m Jersey bred so check yo’self.
can u do your kids bday party at her 1/2 bday mark that would land in the summer? and then for her real bday-day in the winter just have grandparents, etc. over for cake n coffee to celebrate. and mom and dad can take bday girl somewhere special that day. my husband and I have started that tradition where just him and I take her somewhere special that day and then have immediate family over that evening for cake and coffee. it works out perfect.
Being from upstate NY, we don’t go to such lengths for our kids. Under 5’s usually have family, balloons, cake, ice cream and presents. Little ones do not remember nor appreciate the parties, in fact, they tend to have meltdowns from all the over-stimulation. That is sooo not fun! And really, who are we doing this for, us or them? School kids get to have friends from their classes over for a small party, one friend for each year of their age (5yo=5 friends), with a few games and then the above homemade cake with ice cream. Our favorite party spot here is the bowling alley, the kids spend two hours bowling with bumpers, have pizza and cake and ice cream. They love it.
Here’s another thought too, if you start having big parties for your little ones, every year you will want to top yourself and omg, what will the kids expect by the time they are teens? I sometimes watch those Sweet Sixteen parties on tv and they blow me away with just how much the kids expect and their over-the-top celebration demands. And their appreciation seems severely lacking! Mine were blessed to be allowed to get their permit and then only had a family party!
As you can probably tell, lol, I have this thing about raising entitled kids, and it starts young.
Enjoy your little ones’ parties on their level. Simple and sweet.
Drag people across the river to NJ! My sister just celebrated her son’s 2nd birthday at the NJ Children’s Museum in Paramus- it’s maybe 30 minutes outside of Manhattan, the price is great (I think she paid around $300 for at least 12 kids), the staff was wonderful, and the kids loved it.
Ok, those costs are astronomical! What about renting the party room in your building? Of course, that assumes you have one.
As for activities, if you go the home or party room route, all you need to do is set up a few tables with crayons and various coloring pages. I usually get them off Disney’s website. You can print and copy as many as you want. I promise, it will be perfect.
And don’t forget the beer and wine for adults! It’s an essential.
Do you have JWTumbles, Little Gym or Gymboree there? They all offer party packages. Where I live (outside DC), JWTumbles is about $300 for 20 kids, including 2 very energetic girls who run the whole show. We just bring supplies (paper products, cake) and goody bags.
Good luck!
Yes! That was Elaine and she did win a Colossal that she used at the party.
Personally, I don’t think I could handle 15 two-year-olds at an ice cream parlor. I can barely handle just my own out at a restaurant.
And I know everyone’s parents would be with them but I would rather do something that had less supervision required on all parts and would give the parents more freedom to socialize.
Is that selfish?
I’ve been telling my husband repeatedly how much I would die for a basement.
And Benihana’s was THE VENUE for birthday parties in my hometown growing up. I’ve been to at least 100 parties at Benihana’s. And we still go there sometimes as a goof for family birthdays.
Build-A-Bear seems too advanced for two-year-olds. Am I wrong about this? And I cannot name one sit down ice cream place in NYC.
What’s summer in December? Sticking the kids in bathing suits and throwing them in the icy cold fountain in Central Park?
The Jersey option though… that sounds brilliant. Can I hire you to convince friends and family to jump the border?
I think that makes sense in the short term but I wonder if as the kids get older, they want something more special on their actual day. What’s your experience been?
I do envy the casual parties I see thrown in the park.
NYC warps you- it really does. I went to a party last year for a three year-old that had a bubble machine, a bouncy castle on the roof (what kind of insurance comes with that???), a magician, a clown and a full-on band. The birthday girl spent the entire party hiding underneath the table.
Love that idea. Especially since something like a party at the Children’s Museum seems worth the trip.
Why are you inviting 10-15 kids? I like the idea of a kid for every year that the kid has been around. So your kid is two? You and two of your closest kid friends go to the zoo, aquarium, whatever. Chances are, kid won’t remember, or will be overloaded with that many kids around. For my five year old, we had a big birthday, she ended up spending time with one guest, we rented a room at our church and it was so not worth the money we spent (and we spent considerably less that $900).
My building doesn’t have a party room. Not sure about the person who wrote the letter.
They have Gymboree in Manhattan but I’m almost positive parties here are more expensive. Isn’t everything?
I do like the coloring idea. Maybe I’ll try to clear that with my dad for Mazzy’s party. I’ll probably have to present proof that crayon can be washed off of granite. (Can it?)
I have to agree that a 2 year old isn’t going to appreciate or even remember a birthday party, like an older child would. My 7 year old only had her first party this year, and it was at the local bowling place. I can understand the guilt thing, I’m starting to feel it over not having a 1st birthday party for my son this year now that we’re being invited to a bunch our friends are having, but honestly I think parties for the under 5s are for the parents, not the kids.
If you absolutely insist on having the party however, I would recommend looking into the party room thing, some gyms have them too. Or your local family-friendly brunch place that is usually empty after lunch on a weekend.
At our preschool, there is a rule that you have to invite all the kids in the class. Is that not true everywhere?
Although, I don’t think the kid in the letter is in preschool so that’s a good question. Somebody’s two-year-old is too popular for their own good!
This is a total “trailer-trash” idea, but recently I took out an air mattress and let my daughter jump on it (on the floor). She did that for like an hour acting like a monkey hopped up on kool-aid and then took a three hour nap! (yea for mommy!)
Clear the floor, get a couple air mattresses and watch Toddlers Gone Wild!
Now we’re talking! Can parents sign a waiver when they walk in the door? If so, that sounds awesome. And then everyone can thank the hostess for their child’s guaranteed five hour nap post party.
Gospel! I agree on all counts. We used toddler birthdays as an excuse to go somewhere fun – hmm, December, maybe snow tubing? – with the immediate family, have a cake, and take pictures. All the toddler wants is presents, anyway!
I also vote for the non-preschool class party – just invite 1-2 friends from the neighborhood.
Next year, when you can’t really get away with not returning the party invites, my trick is to have it on the birthday girl’s actual birthday, which hopefully is a weekday, and you can get away with way fewer attendees.
Another idea, my kids’ preschool would let you have the party there during class time – in fact, they encouraged it. Was fun for the kids, and took the pressure off of everyone to have a party out of class, could be worth starting the trend if they don’t already do that.
And last, my friend started a “stop the insanity” of preschool parties, b/c in addition to the cost to the hosting family, your weekends are filled with attending the 15 parties of all the other kids, so she organized groups of 4-5 families who each held a party for all the kids in the same general birthday months and justified the gym extravaganza prices when split across multiple families.
Whatever you decide to do, Happy Birthday! I have a December kiddo too!
I think its time to relocate to Atlanta. 🙂
Our preschool rule was only in force if you distributed the invites at school. If you emailed it privately, it is a private playdate. Besides, it’s much more of an issue in the 3-4-5 age spread because they know enough to say I had a party and you aren’t invited. Two year olds? Not so much.
I agree with the keep it very small, very simple philosophy, no matter what everyone else is doing. Practice this, because when your kid is 15, you’ll be saying “If everyone else is jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, will you be doing it too?” Lead by example and lead early.
I also believe that gourmet cupcakes are completely wasted on tots. Make a batch yourself or (gasp!) get em at the grocery store. Ours has an in-store bakery, so you can order them a couple days in advance, pick the colors of the frosting, etc. and gee — only $10-$15 instead of $42 and most of it crumbs that get into your dad’s rugs.
Oh, and time it so it includes only dessert, not lunch and dessert. Toddlers still nap. Schedule the party from 2-4 pm and no one expects you to serve lunch. Just the cupcakes.
A RULE that you have to invite all the kids in class? Seriously?? Your preschool has that kind of power over your personal life?? Our preschool worried about what happened inside their four walls and left the party planning to us. I just slipped invitations into the cubbies of a few select kids and nobody else was the wiser.
For my son’s 1st birthday we went to a McDonalds (here in the Philippines) and the party package came complete with food and ice cream for 25 people, plus cake, games, prizes, goodie bags, a host, a mascot, decorations, a banner with my kids name on it, and even a special gift for the birthday boy…all for just….wait for it….wait for it….$200. Yes, preposterous I know. But there are perks living in a “third world” country…I say, move somewhere where you can get more bang for your buck 😉
I have not read all the posts and I do not live in NYC or in an apartment (lucky enough to rent a house my parents own) but, what about a picnic in your apartment (or a very willing friends apartment) or do something like decorate your own cookies or cupcakes (there will most likely be at least 1 person per child so the mess shouldn’t be too bad). I also saw mention of ice cream…what about an ice cream social at your house…the kids could help their parents make their sundae? Just trying to think of ways to keep costs down but I really don’t have any experience in this market.
Ok, so I’m from California, and we STILL have astronomical party costs. Going to a party place costs at least $400 after you add the food and extra kids in (because we all know THOSE parents who show up with the invited kid, 2 sibs and 3 cousins, saying “It’s ok right?)
DS1 is a December baby, and his birthday falls smack in the middle of christmas vacation. Forget handing out invites at school – nobody is there. Forget the big bash – everyone is spending their dough on crap for their own kids, nevermind your poor kid who had the gall to grace our world 6 days before Christmas. For him, we do 1/2 birthdays with swim parties. He digs it, then again, he’s going to be 7 this year. That may change.
For DS2’s 3rd birthday, we did McDonalds. It was relatively cheap, indoors (March is pretty cold and wet here) and all the kids liked it. I didn’t do anything but swipe my card for $60. 4th birthday he decided to have at home, and invite his friends from preschool. Most kids in the 4-8 range will elect to have a home or park party with more friends versus a big fancy party with just a few. It’s cheaper and WAY easier to coordinate.
Anything under age 3 we do family BBQ at home. I make a cake, we have a few gifts, and kids play. They never remember anyway, so why knock yourself out? Save the big bash for school-age kids. Besides, by then, they’ve got their “group” and will likely be having a smaller party rather than inviting the entire flippin’ class.
We just went to one there. It’s insane mayhem, but not in your house. The kids had a BLAST (and so did I, frankly). That life-sized castle is awesome!
I love the group birthday idea. Especially because there are so many freaking Sept/Oct birthdays!
Did I say freaking? I meant “super-fun!”
I have to agree with Alison. Why would anyone spend that kind of money on a two year old’s party? You can take great pictures of the baby, your husband and you and grandpa or a couple of friends or relatives.
Is this a pressure thing that people are forced into doing things they really don’t want to do?
I have great pics of my kids eating their cake with their cousin and grandparents.
Brainstorm – have you seen the new IHOP on 14th Street? I bet you could do a pancake party! I probably should have saved that brilliance for Ella’s 3rd birthday.
Otherwise, once we were invited to a grownup only cocktail party, and they had a life-size cutout of the birthday boy, like in the picture above, and we took lots of pictures of the adults toasting the fake birthday boy!
Move to Austin, have a baby in July, serve snow cones (soaked in alcohol for the adults) and pray no one dies of heat stroke.
Problem solved.
We’re looking into gymnastics places for Rebecca’s 2nd birthday (also in December). But I’m in northern NJ, so it will probably cost us around $350 for 14 kids. (We’re looking at JW Tumbles, actually, which another reader mentioned) Does this fall into the range of the super-expensive manhattan indoor activities?
BTW, Rebecca and I do a Music for Aardvarks class together! They are very good, Rebecca LOVES the taxi song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB1fp8HEMQw
All I have to say is holy shiznit. 9 times out of ten I totally relate to peoples questions and posts… Then the tenth makes me think there really is a difference between the North and South.
I can’t imagine spending that much on a party! My son turns two in Nov. and the thought of hiring entertainment has not even crossed my mind. I haven’t even ‘heard’ of doing that for a two year old.
Anyway thanks for showing me some of the NY craziness.
I say she should throw a “Southern Party” where we put up a few DIY decorations, the best baker in the family or friends makes a cake, blow up a ton of balloons and drag all the toys to the middle of the room for the kids. Throw some old school party hats on the kids for pictures. Serve sweet tea and/or mimosas to the moms and call it a day. It would save a ton of money and be a lot less stressful.
Sorry, I agree with poster above. A party for two year olds is really a party for the parents (to one up or keep up). I mean, if it floats your boat to spend hundreds of dollars on a two year olds party then go nuts. But the more kids you invite the higher the parental stress plus less time the “host” spends playing with each invitee and the greater the need to “share” ( and how is THAT birthday fun?). I did a poll and 9 out of 10 toddlers agree their idea of birthday bliss is being spoiled with a day of Family that is All About Them with no need to share new toys or food or attention. And as a Mom of two, who has been around all sorts of kids for way too many years, you are fooling yourself if you think kids give a hoot about past birthdays – by the time they are old enough to understand they only care about the present not the past! I offer as proof you interviewing children the day after their just thrown awesome expensive party. Are they talking about how much they loved it? No, they are already planning next years! And those who say “boo-hoo, there is no pictures of me with a huge ass party when I turned two”, I say it is a total guilt-trip move and if you counteract by offering to spend their college fund on a Elmo themed party they should shut up quickly. Seriously!
That is a wonderful rule. As if the preschool is creating the invite list they are obviously footing the bill, right? Um, and now back to the real world, preschoolers who are jealous about not getting a party invite are jealous for about 5 minutes then back to happily smearing jam on the walls (for those parents who think that is untrue, I am so sorry that your child will be remembering and referencing back to you your parental slights and mistakes for the rest of their life. Unless you were objecting to the jam smearing reference to which I say um, hello, it’s ART, please don’t stifle creativity!). Also for those are arguing it is to ensure no exclusion … not inviting at least 1/4 to 1/2 the kids is not exclusion it is using discretion. Not inviting just one or two is rude.
Try Karma Kids Yoga (my friend Shari is the owner). She has a great space and does all the work (hooray!). It’s not super-cheap, but it’s super-easy and fun. We had Emma’s first birthday there (see website…I think her photos are still on it) and everyone still talks about it. Otherwise skip it in favor of a family outing, they seriously don’t remember it and as long as there are some photos with Mazzy, a balloon, or cake and ice cream she’ll think it was a party!
I should say that the class Mazzy is in has six kids. And I was kind of looking forward to the opportunity to get to know the parents. We live in downtown Manhattan and it’s not like everyone around us is a family. If you are a working mom on top of that, there is not a ton of opportunity to make new mom friends.
I wasn’t thinking that having a party in my dad’s apartment, hiring a guitarist and getting cake was making too much of it.
But I’ve always liked throwing parties so maybe I just like having an excuse.
And I think the person who asked the question was trying to do something simple and then blown away by the price.
The “stop the insanity” thing is a really cool idea. I’m not up to the part of parenthood where we are overwhelmed with birthday party invitations since Mazzy is my first and she’s only been in school for a month. But I’m sure it’s coming.
Yeah, we have decided to skip birthday parties until our twins ask for one. I have no guilt about it, they won’t remember it anyway. Once they want a party I’ll worry about it then. Maybe take a few kids out to the movies and then for pizza?
Oh OK, nevermind then. Carry on. Six is a number that is reasonable. I was thinking 15-30!
To be fair- the Colossal Cupcake is one huge cupcake that feeds ten people, makes for a great photo-op and it is delicious. But I get your point.
I am definitely the kind of person that likes to outdo myself so I should start small:)
Short and sweet. I like it.
I didn’t know you were from the Philippines! I am definitely getting to the point where I would like to move somewhere to get more bang for my buck. Even temporarily. But try convincing my husband. He is attached to his short commute.
The real dilemma that the person who asked the question has is that she thinks her apartment is too small to have a party for kids and parents. I was trying to come up with things that took up less space. I’m not sure I really helped except to suggest the Scholastic playspace for the party. But if you had the room and nobody cared about the mess, a decorate your own cookie party sounds great. (Provided the kids didn’t eat everything in sight.)
Most people in NYC that I know do some sort of party. The easiest thing to do since people don’t have a lot of space in their apartments is to use a playspace. I think the person who asked the question wanted to do something simple and was then blown away by the price. Now she’s trying to decide whether to have a party at all. I think we all agree that those prices are CRAZY.
I have seen the IHOP- I wonder how much that would cost? It is SWAMPED on the weekends. Like line down the street swamped. Definitely worth asking about though.
Love the baby cut-out! You mean, he/she doesn’t even have to show up??
Believe me— I have TAXI memorized. We have the CD in our car. Mazzy loves it.
See? That is JUST IT. There is no “middle of the room”. We all live in small apartments so if we want to do something, we have to find a partyspace. BUT partyspaces are astronomically high. And if you go out of NYC, you pose a problem because most of your friends don’t have cars. See the dilemma?
I’m lucky because I can use my dad’s apartment. The person who asked the question doesn’t have that option so all my suggestions were meant to communicate things to do that would take up very little space.
Air mattresses on the floor, crafts and decorating cookies all sound great but not so much when it is in the middle of your living room (aka your only room) and not downstairs in a basement.
Do I sound insane?
It is definitely for the parents. I imagine Mazzy will have a great time but not remember much the next day. That’s fine. I also see it as an opportunity to get to know the parents. When you live in a city and aren’t surrounded by families plus you work during the day, there are not a lot of opportunities to make new mom friends.
Plus I like throwing parties. They are fun! I promise I’m not going to spend even close to the amount described in the question:)
I will definitely check out Karma kids yoga. Do you know they come to Mazzy’s preschool once a week? She loves it!
How about a home grown puppet show like we did when you were a kid?
I’ve thrown insane parties (meaning loads of people milling around and children scampering about) for the kids’ birthdays, and at their core, they are excuses to have people over. If it’s a kid’s birthday, there a little less pressure to have it with precious foods and decorations.
Having some sort of distraction is a good idea, but even that isn’t necessary if you just hide all the breakables.
No, no. Build-a-Bear they can do. Psycho bear stewardesses help with, well, everything. And the bears/bunnies/puppies/frog/Chucky dolls are the party favor.
Um, summer in December was the ice cream business. I don’t know.
OMGee. Swimming the Hudson over to the Jersey side! That’s your party.
And also maybe I shouldnt have watched “My Sweet Sixteen” on TLC before commenting! 😉 Also I am hypocritical as of course have done parties for my kids, but really tried to combine reasonable price with fun entertainment. When she is older, a home spa day party is fairly cheap and not horribly messy. One year we rented a pool and invited all our close friends, it was less than $150 and amazing as all kids and adults had a blast! There i of course nothing wrong with wanting a special party on the special day of the most special person in your life, I was irrationally overreacting to the parents who I feel are more invested in throwing an “expensive” party to prove they can, but it was inappropriate and rude for me to reflect that on you and the mom asking the original question, as both of you don’t seem like that at all, just regular moms wanting a fun day in an expensive city. The day will be fun whatever you do, if all else fails just arrange a class trip to Collosal Cupcakes … whats NOT to like?
Nah not insane… Just hard to swallow that cost!
My husband’s aunt lives in Stuy Town. I could see a real lack of space for a party in her apartment. When we visit there is a lack of space for two more people and she has a two bedroom.
I second the notion she make the party really, really small. Even where we have room, often mothers are limiting parties to two or three close friends. Though they often don’t go to preschool together. We are to spread out for that, so you don’t have to worry about hurt feelings.
I live RIGHT near the children’s museum — my niece had her 3rd birthday party there. It is a very nice sized museum, and they have several party rooms. Based on Mazzy’s curiosity, I think that would be a good idea for you…
If you do have Mazzy’s party there, I might have to crash and say hello 😉
my husband and i love to argue over who gets to attend all the super-fun birthday parties with the kids!
OOOh, just found this post on another blog:
http://mommypoppins.com/newyorkcitykids/budget-birthday-party-in-a-small-space
I wasn’t accusing anyone of anything!
Ten people – or my husband!
You don’t sound insane, we had the same problem living in Europe. I still say the brunch place that’s quiet after 2 on Saturdays or the gym are options to be explored.
I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to get defensive. I think yesterday I got confused as to whether people were saying the original quote in the question was ridiculous or everything I was suggesting was ridiculous.
My bad.
Omg, I thought I had it bad…
I spent my first 5 years spending 300 to 600 dollars on parties, and when I realized that neither child remembered ANY of them!!! I vowed to nip it in the bud….
Last week we had a Halloween bday party at the house, the kids were so happy to dress up, it was just as successful and 1/2 the cost of past parties…..
Yup, me too. Our preschool class had 18 kids in it, and we live in a suburban area RIFE with families and have PLENTY of our own friends thankyouverymuch. 🙂 So I guess that makes a little more sense, if there are only 6 kids. Although I have to admit I still chafe a little being told by near strangers who I must invite into my own home for a party I’m paying for. So while I can see why you might WANT to invite everybody in your case, I still don’t really see how it’s the preschool’s place to tell you that you MUST.
OK. End rant. 🙂
Dude. Find a free event already going on in the city and have the kids show up there. Hand out balloons, a goody bag, tiaras or something cutesy, and then sneak cupcakes into said event.
I’m thinking a free puppet show, concert, museum day… something. Something that clearly sends a message to the workers there of: “Holy crapballs. We have a 2-year-old’s birthday in here and now we have to keep an eye on them.”
It’s like free chaperones. Only the puppet show, concert, museum, etc is paying them.
You can still enjoy having a party even inside your home. You should use your creativity to discover new things that you can do to make a party a fun one.
You need to check out City Kids Cakes. They come to the house, set everything up beautifully, the kids all decorate a custom white fondant cake wit whatever you choose. The owner of the company was there with an assistant to help all the kids spray, and decorate their cakes. We got aprons for all the kids and everyone took home their cake as a party favor. For everything they did I think it was totally worth it. Check them out.