What do you do at a birthday party?

flower

Please pardon my ignorance and stupidity but if I cant ask ya'll who can I ask?

My son was invited to his first birthday party and its this Saturday. The little girl will be 3. I think we have the gift covered..a Barbie CD player. Thats good for a little girl right?

And I asked her mom if there was anything she needed help with. That was cool of me right? She just said bring whatever my special dish is that I always bring to things like this LOL..yea well I dont think she really wants a bowl of nothing.

I was thinking cupcakes or something, what do ya think? Or will she already have cupcakes? Maybe something for the grownups? I guess you dont bring beer to a 3 year old bday party eh? LOL (j/k)

Or do ya think she wants like a food dish?

Anyway, I'm not really worried about that. More importantly what do *I* do at the party. I havent been to anyones house socially since I cant tell you how long and I've never been to a 'non jws' house for a party except for a superbowl party.

Are there certain things that I'm gonna look like an idiot for not knowing? I know it sounds stupid but I worry about this stuff cause it happens to me all the time. Do I just socialize with the parents?

What should my son and I wear? Do we get dressed up? Or should we wear jeans? Or something in between?

I need to know everything before I go in there looking stupid. Just the one gift is ok right? I can excuse myself and leave after a couple hours right?

Tell me about the first birthday party you ever went to.

flower

Beans

Sing Happy Birthday with pride! Anything with sugar the kids love! The adults like those cream cheese dips with cheddar cheese and peppers on it you know the one. And that Pumpernickle dipping stuff.

Beans

PS: Anything Barbie is a winner for a girl!

Simon

lol, you sound just like us!

"What do we do??"

Liam is very excited because he is having his first ever birthday party in a couple of weeks and we've booked a "Whacky Warehouse" for him and his school friends (it's a big indoor play area). He is dropping very subtle hints as to what presents he'd like: "You can get a bike for spiderman ... I haven't got a spiderman bike ... tesco have them" - but I don't mind ... I love spiderman! (I've not shown him my comic collection yet)

Just go along with what everyone else does and don't worry too much. It's not a Witness do so there doesn't tend to be the same critical analysis of what everyone is wearing and stuff like that.

have fun, eat cake, go home.

Hardest part is singing "Happy Birthday" ... just seems *very strange*

I'm sure your son will love it!

GentlyFeral

Hi, Flower--

I asked her mom if there was anything she needed help with. That was cool of me right?

Yes, very!

I was thinking cupcakes or something, what do ya think? Or will she already have cupcakes? Maybe something for the grownups?

The centerpiece of a child's birthday party will be a big CAKE, so I'd bring something as un-cake-like as possible.

More importantly what do *I* do at the party. I havent been to anyones house socially since I cant tell you how long and I've never been to a 'non jws' house for a party except for a superbowl party.

Well, it's kind of like a superbowl party, only it's for little kids. Same kind of atmosphere, but without the football and beer. Games for the kids and presents, and not too much besides, especially for such a young kid.

Just the one gift is ok right?

Yeah. More would actually be extravagant.

I can excuse myself and leave after a couple hours right?

A party for a three-year-old probably shouldn't last much longer than that.

Can't remember the first birthday party I ever went to, but my daughter had her first about five years ago, at the age of 13. She took her friends out for miniature golf and said they had to dress up like Eskimos. Damn, that didn't help much, did it?

GentlyFeral

termite 35

Hey Flower!Relax!The present sounds pretty good to me!Does your child know the childs' parents well?Sometimes they want you to leave them there and pick up later...If not I guess they'll play games and eat alot and ,as Simon said, sing happy birthday.I had the first ever one for my son last month-a football party with 23 little 8 yearold horrors!we hired a youth club and played games and footie and ate too much-he said it was the best day of his life!But I had trouble with the 'happy birthday-lets blow out the candles and make a wish 'thing.I don't know why- it just felt so weird...my sister saw me floundering and stepped in, bless her little cotton socks,and started everyone singing;it surprised me ,but also made me realise how conditioned i must have been...Perhaps enjoy it through your child at first if it feels a bit weird...Hope you have fun XXX

lastcall

Flower, I can relate. My son just went to only his second yesterday. We went to walmart to pick up a gift. I was thinking. How much do I spend? I didn't wan to be a cheapo, but I didn't want to over do it either. My son was at first insistant that it should come in a huge box. He later relented and we ended purchasing two star wars episode II action figures and two packages of starwars trading cards. We got one of those Batman gift bags and some tissue paper and we were set.

Incidentally I was a little bunged that I would run into a JW at walmart (that is their auxilliary KH:>) with all of this Happy B-day stuff. I know it's pathetic but I'm still in recovery.
Also the birthday boy told my son the he gave him the best present that day. FYI: it was Qui Gon and Annikan . Flower,if all else fails just remember Qui Gon and Annikan. Girls LOVE Star Wars. Uhh Better stick w/ Barbi. Good Luck! I mean Good Fortune! no Best Wishes! Aww screw it Good Luck!

SYN

I also still squirm at these sort of events. Not all of the mind-meme has been eridicated from my brain yet, but I'm working on it...

"If men were like their personal ads, they wouldn't need personal ads."

r51785

Bring an innocent person to slaughter. Preferably by beheading. This is always the main event when worldlings have birthday parties. Some may have pinatas, but for my money there's nothing like a good beheading.

Hmmm

According to my upbringing, birthday parties usually end up with someone getting their head chopped off.

I attended my nephew's birthday party a few months ago. He was turning three, and I figured he was getting to the age where he would start noticing who was there and who wasn't.

Imagine my chagrin when nobody died under a headsman's axe.

Anyhoo... your role as guest at a munchkin's birthday party is really simple: Bring your munchkin, offer to help the poor... er, happy mother to serve cake etc..., get to know the other parents, and sit back watch the kids have a blast. A Superbowl party for kids is a good comparison.

One thing I did notice in my foray into public worldliness, is that any time you get 10-15 kids aged 3-5 together, there will be rough-housing. The unwritten rule seemed to be that any parent could pull any kid off any other kid if it got out of hand. But non-JW parents allow more leeway with their children. They're not expected to be perfect little publishers all the time.

Most of all, relax and enjoy yourself!

Isn't it sad that we have to ask these kinds of questions?
Hmmm

DakotaRed

Basically, Flower, just let the kids have fun and don't fret much. Play games and keep the cake and ice cream flowing.

If God's Spirit is filling a Kingdom Hall, how is it that Satan can manuever the ones within that Kingdom Hall at the same time?

What do you do at a birthday party?

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