Melbourne's Child Melbourne's Child (2011 Party Guide) : Page 1

ga mes a nd I’ll ma ke a va nilla sponge w ith chocolate icing. Hopef ully my son won’t be sca rred for life.” Cath, mother of t wo boys under the age of si x, couldn’t ag ree more. She recently made a commitment to get back to basics a nd hasn’t looked back. “My husba nd broug ht home a pile of huge ca rdboa rd boxes. We used a roller br ush a nd pa inted them in Lego colours,” says Cath. “They were a huge hit at our back ya rd pa r t y. The boys a nd g irls built for ts a nd climbed a ll over them. The boxes lasted for a couple of weeks a f ter the pa r t y – the toug her the box, the better it ca n weather the battering.” Could it be that the tide is turning ? The dip in the economy may have taug ht us a lesson we ca n ca rr y throug h sunnier economic days. The message? That setting the ba r too hig h where bir thdays a re concerned is fraug ht w ith da nger. Michaela, a n ex pat liv ing in Irela nd w ith her husba nd a nd baby g irl, g ives a rea listic account of how quick ly fina ncia l stabilit y ca n cha nge: “Kids’ pa r ties were ridiculous here for yea rs during the economic boom. Children had huge bouncy castles in their back ya rd, ma rquees set up w ith catered food, a nd the present was usua lly a €50 note in the ca rd. Now we a re in a recession a nd fa milies have had to drastica lly cut costs. But it ’s not a ll bad; we’ve been forced to get creative. “I recently attended a bir thday pa r t y for a neig hbourhood boy. His father had been la id off work a nd they were str ug gling fina ncia lly. The theme was ‘pirates’ a nd each child received a paper pirate hat a nd a homemade eye-patch on a rriva l. The day was filled w ith pirate ga mes, like ‘wa lk the pla nk ’ a nd tug of wa r, a nd a treasure hunt using maps. The children had a ba ll a nd ta lked about it for weeks a f ter wa rds. Let ’s face it, no-one ta lks about a bouncy castle, because ever yone has them,” says Michaela. The current trend at my si x-yea r-old daug hter ’s school is to inv ite the whole class to ever y bir thday pa r t y. Now let ’s consider this for a moment. With 20 children in a class a nd, say, 36 weeks in a school yea r, that ’s one pa r t y ever y second weekend. At a n average of $20 per present, this adds up to $400, to say nothing of the immeasurable a mounts of suga r a nd preser vatives being consumed at each event. Children’s parties are the number-one method used by competitive parents to outdo each other. Pitching a jumping castle in the backyard? I’ll see your jumping castle and raise you a petting farm. Could this a ll be a sy mptom of the ‘ helicopter pa renting ’ that ’s received so much publicit y lately? Pa rents who a re perhaps a little too involved in their children’s lives a re work ing themselves into a frenz y to keep up w ith the pace a nd qua lit y of bir thday pa r ties for their little ones. We a ll k now that the children couldn’t ca re less. Give them a ba lloon, a piece of ca ke a nd a bunch of friends, a nd they ’re happy. I say this as someone who has not been immune to pa r t y pressure. I too have blow n hundreds of dolla rs on tenpin bowling a nd hire-a-fa ir y pa r ties. However, in a n effor t to come back dow n to ea r th, I decided to get back to basics for my children’s bir thdays this yea r. W hen my daug hter turned si x, we inv ited a bunch of friends to a loca l PARTY TIME OPTIONAL EXTRAS nature reser ve. We cooked sausages a nd lay about on picnic bla nkets while the children climbed trees a nd played hide-a nd-seek. It was a gorgeous day, enjoyed equa lly by young a nd old. Buoyed by t he success of t his simple event, I followed a simila r pla n for my son’s four t h bir t hday. The r unning sheet went somet hing li ke t his: pirate treasure hunt in t he ga rden, bobbing for doug hnuts, bash t he piñata, pass-t he-pa rcel, a quick splash in t he pool a nd t hen hot dogs for lunch. Easy! It took a bit of pla nning , but proved fa r cheaper t ha n hir ing someone to r un t he pa r t y for me, or t he per-head cost of a play centre. It was a memorable day a nd a genuine celebration of my lit tle boy ’s life. A nd isn’t that what it ’s a ll about? PART ES PART ES BOWLING B WLING B T BOWLING WLING BIR THDA Y P AR ES S TAR SUPER S TA R OPTIONAL EXTRAS • • • • Bowling Kids meals Arcade game tokens Theming PARTY TIME B O W L E R PART Y PART ES $24.90 per person SPONGE B WLER BOWLIR B BOB B • Dedicated party host PA RT Y PAR T Y • Invitations, party bags and a birthday gift B PA WLING RT Y BIRTHDAY BOWLING PART Y • 1 game of bowling • 2 games of bowling • 1 game of bowling $19.90 per person AR SUP S A T R S T S TA SPONGE R SPONGE S U P T E R R E R S A B WLER BOWLIR B O E W L R B WLER BOWLIR B OWL E R B B BOB BOB B PA RT Y Y RT Y PART Y B PA R T Y PA R T PA PART Y PART Y PART Y BOWLING B WLING PART Y $22.90 per person PLAN YOUR PARTY ONLINE NOW! www.amfbowling.com.au Ph 132 AMF (132 263) PART Y © 2010 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nickelodeon, SpongeBob SquarePants and all related titles. Created by Stephen Hillenburg. XSMBPAC03/11 E0109 www.webchild.com.au • May 2011 29

Le Mans Go Karts, Victoria
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