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• No More Sugar Mama

  When I was a kid, Valentine's Day was a great excuse to overdose on sugar, chocolate, and red dye #40. School parties featured cupcakes and punch and candy hearts while my parents usually had some kind of treat for us at home. It was second only to Halloween in terms of the deliciousness level, not to mention the sugar high.  How times have changed. Last night, for my daughter's preschool party, I made not cookies, not cupcakes, but plain, lightly salted popcorn. Other choices on the sign up sheet included red apples, snap peas, strawberries, and bagels. All perfectly wonderful and tasty food, but party food? Come on now. Read More... Posted Feb 14 2008, 06:03 PM by Amy Kuras with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: preschool, cooking for kids, children's parties, Valentine's Day, chocolate, cookies, chemicals, public schools, kid friendly foods, sugar

• Birthday Party Excess (Again!)

  These stories of over-the-top kids' birthday parties are becoming so commonplace in the media now that I'm actually starting to think some of them sound like great ideas. Not the ones that cost tens of thousands of dollars where you have to book the Four Seasons ballroom six months in advance, but the kind discussed in this article, where you take your kids to a venue and let 'em go at it, whatever "it" happens to be. These parties are like Gymboree or Build-a-Bear parties taken to the next level, and it's a level that is somehow not as repulsive to me (I hate clowns and I hate stuffed animals). I could totally go for a dress-up party where my kids and their friends spend a couple hours tarting themselves up with sparkly eyeshadow and then dance around in fairy wings, especially if it didn't require me to provide the cold cream and mirror space. I can see having a build-your-own-pizza party, or a tea party in a fancy hotel. Well, I can almost see it. What I really like about what I'm reading here is that some of the parties were just really creative at-home parties, like a tractor-themed party with a real machine for climbing and pretending. Planned by professionals of course, which we have already established is kind of bizarre for a little kids' party, but there's no reason you couldn't come up with this stuff yourself. But then you're going to have to clean it up yourself when the fairy dust and tea-sandwich crumbs settle. Posted Jun 13 2007, 03:29 PM by Patti with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: parties, birthday parties, children's parties, birthdays, birthday party

• Birthdays Without Pressure? St. Paul Organization Says You Can, and So Do I

  Birthday overkill got you down? St. Paul organization Birthdays Without Pressure can help. They aim to help parents reduce the excess of birthday celebrations, citing the mountains of gifts, the competition to provide bigger and better venues, and that old birthday thorn in the side, the gift bag. BWP launched today with a talk given by University of Minnesota professor David Ruth. The organization's inception was inspired by one mother's surprise at the pressure she felt to produce a great party for her three year old, and the discussion with her instructor and classmates in a parenting class that followed. Now, I can take or leave gift bags (don't do them myself), and I can take or leave presents. But I can tell you the secret to having a great birthday party for your kids that every guest of every age will enjoy: No games, no structure, no fancy entertainment, no freaking bounce house or pony ride. All you need is iTunes on shuffle, three kinds of chips, extra frosting on the cupcakes, and most important of all, Birthdays Without Pressure are Birthdays With Beer. That's it. No website necessary. You're welcome. Posted Jan 16 2007, 08:00 PM by Patti with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: birthday parties, birthdays without pressure, children's parties