My oldest turned five, and since her birthday is in the winter, it is more limiting on places to have a party. When she was younger, we had parties at our house in the basement, but they were crowded, and I had to do all the work so they were stressful. This year we had her party at Sir Bounce-A-Lot’s, a bounce house and arcade, and are very happy with how easy it was to put together.
I made the party reservations online a few weeks before the party and sent out invites to all her friends. Other than buying a cake (which you can get there as well) and putting together a few party favors (also available), I had nothing else I had to do. This was one of the first times I was able to actually enjoy a birthday party!
On the day of the party, you are assigned a party assistant who will make sure your party runs smoothly. In this case, our assistant brought out the pizza, served it, provided us with napkins and plates, prepped the cake with candles, cut it and served it, disposed of the wrapping paper, and made sure the birthday girl was content.
Our guests showed up and I was able have a conversation with the parents while the kids happily bounced in the bounce houses for the first 45 minutes. Then, we had pizza, cake, and opened presents. The birthday girl was able to spin the big wheel for extra tickets. Then, we played in the arcade section for the last 45 minutes of the party. Everyone left happy, and I was exhausted from following my kids around, but not from the preparation of the actual party. I’d say that a good kind of tired. It was fun to see them sliding down the big slides and interacting with their friends.
Another thing I was happy about was their willingness to accommodate. We actually had to reschedule the original party date due to my daugher having the flu. Sir Bounce-A-Lot’s let us pick a new party date without losing our deposit. We made it for one week later and lucked out that no one else got sick–whew! Having kids is so unpredictable, accommodating families this way is a huge win in my book.
365 Days of New 