To have or NOT to have your child a BIRTHDAY PARTY?

That is the dilemma I am facing this year. I have two wonderful children and they have been having a party every year since birth! I love giving them parties and I am sure they enjoy it, but it gets tiring and it gets expensive. My son will be 6 this year and my daughter will be 4. My and husband and I have agreed from now on, we will do parties every other year. And this year will be the year of NO parties. What we are doing is allowing our children to pick 4-5 friends and we will take them out and spend the day.


My son is actually a 4th of July baby. This year we are letting him choose his friends and his activity for this coming Saturday. He wants to go see Cars 2, lunch and bowling! I am definitely doing lunch and the movies but bowling might be ruled out. Once I add up all the kids for movies and lunch, that’s enough. If I add bowling, I feel I might as well have had a party! We are doing this to save money. But I don’t know, I will see how the day flows.

What about you? Do you give your children a party every year? I think if you want to and have the means to do it, by all means – have a party. If you want to take a break from the many kids running around and do something just as impactful for their special day – do that as an option. Whether you give your kids a party or not, they just want to have a blast for their birthday.

I do have a question. For parities where you let him invite 4 or 5 friends, should you choose the friends or let him choose? I let him choose his party crew. He knows best who he feels he will have a blast with.