All Birthdays Need to be Celebrated – by Dolores.
It is such a special day, and it doesn’t matter how anyone else celebrates their birthday. What works for other families might not work for your gang, just do whatever makes your child happy.
Of course, it can be very disheartening when your child is not invited to birthday parties and that is a different story but when it’s your child’s birthday you really want it to be the best day of the year.
Ask yourself what you want to achieve for the day?
Which is of course to make your child happy and have lovely memories. This is not a day to encourage friendships for your child as I feel in my experience it did not work like that, a playdate at another time worked better.
So, make life as easy as possible. Include your child as much as possible with the planning and remain very calm. (I am thinking of myself here ????)
- Will it be on the child’s birthday and what time?
- Would afternoons suit you better to get organised?
- How many children to ask? Is your child better with a smaller crowd or like my children the whole class had to be asked!
- Are the parents going to stay as well?
- How long will the party go on for?
- Are you going to do all the catering yourself?
- Can you rope in some support from family?
What games do your child like to play and could you include this on the day? David used to find it hard to play physical games as he is a wheelchair user and he is challenged with the use of his left hand so he was happier playing a game that they could play on the PlayStation with some children while the rest went outside. It is hard sometimes to keep every child happy but remember this is your child’s party.
My other children cannot cope with me cleaning in a hurry and looking for help!! It puts them under pressure. If the housework is not done properly do not stress or worry just praise the child for doing it, and as hard as it may be let it go.
Have a list of what needs to be done including blowing up balloons, decorating and ask all the family including the birthday child which job they would like to do. Again don’t assume, as David refused to have balloons at his parties he really doesn’t like them.
Surprises are not very good for a child with additional needs so plan.
- What cake would the child like?
- What food and drink should you have?
- Does your child like face painting, clowns, magic show, bouncy castle or just a DVD?
This is all very important and whatever the child would like to do (within reason and budget) that’s all that matters.
Choose the clothes that your child would like to wear in advance as well so there is no complaining on the day, just because you have bought the best outfit for your child does not mean it will be put on and today is not the day for auguring.
Organisation and planning is key to a successful child’s party. This is a special day for you too, you’ve got your child to another milestone.
Enjoy, be a proud parent and take lots of photos.