Party Planning 101 - Dutch Style

So, now, onto the Party Planning phase of Mission:Impossible - Birthday Edition. This was originally one really loooong post together with the countdown clock, but I decided to break into smaller posts before a reader's eyes started to bleed :-)

When it came to planning where and what the party should be this year, we based on recent experiences he really semeed to enjoy, something we could do with between 10 and 12 children, and something that, with any luck, I could enourage the parents to stick around for, becuase who really wants sole responsibility for tweleve 5 year old boys?

The fun he had with Bowling during the Christmas break meant he wanted to have a bowling party for this birthday, in the theme of everything Cars - Lightening Mc Queen, to be exact. At first, it was Spiderman (again), then it was SpongeBob (who Kev loves (from his dad) but is not so popular over here yet), and finally we settled on the ever cool, always a hit with 5-7 year old boys, Cars. it also ticked all of mom's boxes (see above) so, I figured we were good to go!

With that settled, Mom has spent the better part of two weeks searching websites both here and in the US (love Ebay for things like this!) for all things Cars. So far, I've found the favors for both the class party and the bowling party attendees, the balloons, the invites, and someone to make about 70 cupcakes for the different parties (easier to transport and share than a cake, and no fights over corner or 'small' pieces!

I'm outsourcing the cupcakes because as much as I love to bake, 70 cupcakes is beyond my capabilities during a work week. I'll package them nicely and with some creativity (I'll post pictures later) but the actual baking would just be overwhelming on top of the parties and gifts and the invites.

Class parties over here are so...creative. There are home made gifts, made to look like other things (think paper ducks whose wings are chocolate egg holders, elaborate things made out of pipe cleaners……you get the idea? Then there are the funny handcrafted bags to put everything in...maybe it is for a lower costs overall (as a Dutch pastime seems to be to compare relative cheapness of things with pride – “this, oh it took only 5 hours and 49 cents to make!), but unless there are some bulk methods to buying craft items I haven’t yet stumbled across here after 13 years, it's never as cheap as they say when you try to replicate it!!

The materials that go into crafty handmade things aren’t exactly cheap over here (there are no large craft stores, or malls or anything like that in most towns, and then you've got to figure in the time it takes to make 50-70 of anything.

There aren't enough hours in the day for this mom, I'm sorry to say. I love to be creative, but that's just too big a scale for me. Those are the moments I feel very fish out of water with the more traditional Dutch moms who work 2-3 days a week and have time for these kinds of activities. At birthday time, I'm jealous, and wish I could do more 'from scratch'. Oh well... Maybe I need a hobby room like Holly's! - I should put in a request for an attic conversion, hmmm.......

You wouldn't think 12 invites would be a big deal - I didn't, but then I got the invites and realized they were completely blank! That means a lot of handwriting, in Dutch! The Dutch part is what takes forever, then add on Kevin's wanting to 'help' by writing his name in each invite, and mom's bright idea to add confetti and a balloon to each invite, then realize I was out of stamps and needed to order/buy some (because otherwise I'm trusting one almost 5 year old to deliver something to another 4 or 5 year old, and they in turn have to get it home to mom and dad), and before I knew it, 12 invites had turned into a worthy part of a blog post.

I'm also carrying on the tradition this year of the b-day shirt. Every year, I've gotten something for everyone who comes to his parties to sign. For the first b-day, it was the autograph bear with birthday cupcake from Build-a-Bear, and each year since, I've gotten a personalized t-shirt in the theme of the party that all the kids (and parents) can sign. This way he has something fun to wear on the day once everyone has signed it, and later he'll have something to look back at as his friends change (or don't).

So, with 29 nights to go, and the invites to 12 kids and their parents out........now I have to think about what my present will be...I'm tempted to go easy this year while I still can and do the party, let 1 or 2 friends stay over, and call it good. I think between Dad, Oma and Opa's, and the friends who come to the party, he'll be more than covered gift wise, and a party for 12, plus the class party for 30 has to be paid for somehow, and it's all mom as far as planning and invested time goes..... What do you guys think - can a party be considered a gift?

Leave a comment and ease my guilt, or let me know if I'll be scarring him for life if there isn't a package in the pile with my name on it.

I'll re-visit in March with pics and party stories, promise!