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Painless Parties

Tips for Your Child's Big Day

By Jenny Rackley

"It's not MY birthday party!" Jordan cried. "It'll never be MY birthday party." Before my son turned three he went to a number of birthday parties. It was very hard for him to see other children receive presents when there were none for him.

My son is not alone. Young children, and sometimes older children, react with varying degrees of sadness, jealousy, and anger when they are guests at a party to honor someone else. Many other things can contribute to making a party less than enjoyable for you, your child or your guests.

In order to have a painless party, parents need to do all they can to make sure, in advance, that the guests will have a pleasant and enjoyable time, their child will enjoy himself or herself, the parents will have peace of mind during the party, and that the aftermath of the party will not be overwhelming.

Here are some planning tips that will help you to put on a successful (and painless) party.

DO plan a theme - get books from the library to get ideas. Make some of the decorations, treats, or party favors so the costs are acceptable.

DO plan activities or games for guests. You can hide party favors or snacks around the living room for the children to find, have the children create an art project or play traditional party games. Be sure to have all the supplies you need for your activities and plan some alternates in case the ones you chose don't go over well or don't take as long as you expected.