Birthday parties

[HardyGirl]

What kind of birthday parties did you have as a kid? Or do you give your own kids?:

1)Parents drop off kids and you plan games and activities for them
2)You invite friends (both yours and the child's) and family to your house or the park or something
3) You pay for a venue (like Chuck E. Cheese)
4)Just the family and you have dinner at home or go out to eat

[Mikey]

Just a cake and the only people there was my family.

To be honest I always hated having people over except a few close friends.

[Meule]

#1 for me. I'd get lots of my friends over to my house and we played all sorts of games. Usually the day would end with my dad taking us all up in the air in one of his planes and he'd fly over everyone's house

[bgrimm77]

It's funny you posted this because Adlers Birthday is this coming week. My boy is gonna be 4!!!! I have a party planned with friends and family with dinner , cake and ice cream , balloons and all that. The way I look at it , is it's his day and I want him to feel special. He is special..... he's my boy and I want him to have a good time with people that he loves and more importantly , love him. Games and mayhem to ensue!!!

[M3G0M4V3R1CK]

3 Kids all within 3 months of each other (years apart) so we have one big party.

Usually consists of cake, games, then presents.

Then the adults get together and play cards. ... Josh

[haggis]

It was usually option #1 back in the day. As times got a bit more prosperous the party may have moved to McDonalds or a local pizza restaurant called Mothers Pizza(RIP).

[fallensaviour]

As a kid #1 As a parent we ask the kids what kind of party they want.

[toys2cool]

just family for my parties

[The Toyroom]

I only remember one birthday (10) when I actually got to invite kids from school....normally it was just family.

[trekman101]

When I was young my mom had some friends over for cake....when I got older it was just the family....for my son we've had theme parties but last year we did Chuck E Cheese and my son and his friends loved it so much that her wants it this year too...they do a great job and it was the most inexpensive party we ever gave him.

[Adam West]

When I was young it varied. I usually had friends over. The ones that are most memorable are in 6th grade when I invited friends that were both boys and girls and we ended up in some wooded area playing truth or dare. 7th grade, I invited about 4 or 5 of my best guy friends and we went camping. My parents came along but allowed us quite a bit of freedom so it was a great time.

For my own kids; we try to accomodate their party wishes as best we can within reason. For example, my 9 year old had a few friends at a local place that has laser tag, arcade, etc. (a little bit of a step up from Chuck E Cheese). My daughter who just turned 13 is more social so we allowed her to have a slumber party....she had 12 or 13 friends over (that was even after limiting the amount of friends). My only rules were that they stay confined to our basement area as much as possible, not trash the place, and keep the noise level down to a roar. My older son prefers a nice birthday dinner with just the family and would rather have a bit of a nicer gift rather than invite a bunch of friends over.

[Gorn Captain]

Let's see...
My birthday is in July.
At that moment, my brother and sister were always away on holiday, so I never celebrated my birthday on the day itself. I didn't even get a present.

It never dawned on anyone that I might have wanted a fun day.

So my parents waited until my siblings came home from vacation.
Then when it was time for the present, they couldn't be bothered to hang around and went to their room to listen to music before I had even unwrapped the gift.

Fun, fun fun!!!!

[Adam West]

Let's see...
My birthday is in July.
At that moment, my brother and sister were always away on holiday, so I never celebrated my birthday on the day itself. I didn't even get a present.

It never dawned on anyone that I might have wanted a fun day.

So my parents waited until my siblings came home from vacation.
Then when it was time for the present, they couldn't be bothered to hang around and went to their room to listen to music before I had even unwrapped the gift.

Fun, fun fun!!!!

I always feel bad for people who have birthdays right around major holidays like Christmas or in your case it sounds like vacation which I know is much different in Europe than the U.S.

I don't if it is still the same, but many Europeans go on holiday for 4-6 weeks at a time which one thing I envy. Around here in the U.S., you practically have to beg if you want to go away for more than a week even if you have the vacation time to cover it.

my wife's birthday is in early January so it feels kind of strange to buy her Christmas gifts and then another gift a week later. Over the years I have found she enjoys gift cards for her birthday. Most retail stores are usually having post Christmas sales at that point and it's a win/win since I don't have to put a lot of thought into it.

[thunderbolt]

My parents took a bunch of my friends and I out to a movie and then usually Godfather's Pizza. One year it was Halloween II and one year Star Trek the Motion Picture.

[Duncan]

Last year was my son's 7th bday, near the end of 1st grade. I spent years leading up to the party assembling a collection of fossils, semi-precious stones/minerals, shells, foreign coins & bills, and assorted trinkets that might pass for pirate booty (total value under $70). I put everything into a little wooden chest, maybe 1.5 gallon sized, and buried it in our back yard in a flower bed. This was under mulch, so nobody could tell that it had been dug up.

I'd acquired a few scrap pieces of leather at an art show, and I used a Sharpie to make a treasure map & notes with clues. I "found" a note with a little treasure while gardening one day months before the party, and I planted one where I knew my son would find it. It named a certain pirate that I made up. In Word, I created a fictitious history (looked like it was from the Internet) for the pirate & his family, which mentioned that they used to live in our area.

The clues on the map mentioned that we'd need a full 'crew' of at least 7 pirates to avoid a curse, so I suggested that his bday party might be a good time to look for the treasure. The kids made loot bags & other pirate stuff, then we went on the hunt. The kids were pretty bright, and managed to solve the clues without much help. We dug up my flower bed, which made a few jaws drop, and pulled out a dirty chest full of shiny things. I split up the loot into equal shares and the kids went home with a cool story to tell. I'm doubt they all completely believed it, but enough of them believed enough of it that it came off as plausible. Now I need to figure out an encore for my daughter. She's not too girly, so maybe the pirate had a sister or daughter who also got into mischief and also happened to bury treasure in our yard?