 |
|
 |
|
|
|
BIRTHDAY PARTIES: Planning those important birthday celebrations
Reader's Questions and Answers: |
|
|
NOTE: Answers provided are of a general nature only and in no way reflect a medical opinion or diagnosis. If you are in doubt about any aspect of your pregnancy, please consult your physician immediately.
|
Feedback:
October, 2007
Our family has been blessed with triplets, two sons and a daughter. For their 8th birtday we celebrated with friends at a local bowling alley. It was easy----pizza stick or hot dog, brought our own cake, bowling pins for friends to autograph, lasted two hours, easily managed 24 kids---We only invited friends we had been previously invited to---with three kids it adds up fast. Kids bowled, ate, went back to bowling---no down time.
From Lynda:
What a great birthday idea and no doubt the kids had a wonderful time.
Feedback:
September, 2006
Good ideas. My kids are all in the same class and I am concerned that my triplets will all want to invite the same friends. What if they can only invite 3 and some show and some don't (i.e. one has only two friends with presents and the others have three)? In addition, I don't want everyone to feel like they need to bring three presents.
From Lynda:
I find birthday parties with multiples such a challenge and what I tried to do was to focus on each child as an individual and make the party 'theirs.' Invites went out with only one name on it, to one invitee. Some parents didn't know the girls were twins. I, too, felt I didn't want to put the pressure on for more than gift and I also felt it was my job to outline the boundaries - even though it wasn't clear to me what they were. We were flying by the seat of our pants. If things got really complicated and a parent phoned to ask what to do, knowing they were twins, I said, 'purchase a game everyone can play' and gave them ideas so they wouldn't duplicate what we already had.
Ask your child with two friends if he could stretch his/her mind to include one more. Or you suggest some names of others he might have mentioned or you feel could be close to him. Also, this expands their horizons and the invitee could become a good friend when he gets to know him out of the school setting.
Encourage them to try and think of different people to invite so that they can all have fun together. If they all or two want to invite 'Tom,' then flip a coin and the one not called will need to invite someone else. I used the word 'democratic.' We need to be 'democratic' so that everyone gets an equal opportunity. I felt they were having some control and it was not just me making unpopular decisions. Further, they had some responsibility for what was happening, which is important for any child to learn and to feel good about their environment. I think it is really important that parents don't make all of the decisions but offer opportunities for their children to make age-appropriate decisions about their lives (choosing what to wear would be another example. Who cares what they wear as long as they are happy, feel competent and in control? - it just needed to be clean and weather appropriate, were my only rules).
I hope this gives you a place to begin. Above all, have fun and take lots of different pictures for the kids' scrapbooks.
Feedback:
September, 2005
I would like to have some ideas for a Boys' 13th Birthday Party
From Lynda:
You might try:
-laser quest
-swim/pool party, in particular a wave pool is fun and the facility will often do everything for parties;
-movie, same as above;
-rock wall climbing (we have indoor facilities in my community and they are very popular and very well supervised;
-for our daughters' 13th birthday, we went white water rafting, one friend each. It was fabulous!;
-if you take a look on my Site under the photo galleries, there are Party Pacs that you can order c/w birthday ideas and themes. www.multiplebirthsfamilies.com
Hope some of these help.
Feedback:
August, 2005
You must really spoil kids on their birthdays because why couldn't they split a cake. Unless you celebrate the birthdays different.
From: Annon.
From Lynda:
I think, and certainly feedback from children and adult multiples is, that each child likes, appreciates and deserves their own cake. We all like to feel special, especially on our birthdays, even if they are shared. Having your own cake and singing Happy Birthday per child doesn't spoil a child. What spoils a child are no limits and inconsistencies, not love.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
