J.C.
Never been there, but it sounds like fun! In response to your not wanting to go broke with parties. There is no rule that says you have to invite every child from her class and all the cousins and neighbors. We have seasonal get-togethers for family birthdays (ie we get one big cake for everyone in the family with a Spring b-day and get together to mark their special milestone. It's fun!) I have read several parenting books and articles that recommend you invite around the same number of kids to the party as the age of the birthday boy/girl. The "experts" say that too many kids at a party are very overwhelming for a child, and make it much more difficult for them to learn the social graces of being a host and to appreciate the whole event and the guests that are there. I fully realize this is a difficult thing to do, but you might want to move in that direction with your child. When my kids were under 5, I tried to keep it to 5 or 6 kids. Once they were in school, I tried to keep it under 10 guests. I did not always succeed, but the important thing is I have taught my kids that the party is actually mor fun when you can spend time with every guest. (also, do they really need all those gifts???) I try to remind them often, that they should not expect to get invited to every party, but that it does not mean other kids are not thier friend. This year my 8 year old is having a Pokemon theme party, so she is only inviting the 8 or 10 who she knows share that passion with her. Also, as my son got even older (he's 17 now!) He was more willing to invite 2 or 3 friends to do something really fun, like go to Great America, and it was less $$ in the long run than having an average "party" for 20 friends! Good Luck!from one J. C to another!
