What's in your Party Bag?
Just like anything else; party bag fads are constantly changing, but what should we really be putting into our children’s party bags? And should we be doing them at all?
The traditional party bag consists of a slice of birthday cake, some sweets, a balloon, maybe a sticker and a cheap plastic toy such as a puzzle, bubbles or colouring pencils. But after receiving a few of these (if your child is of primary school age, that’s at least 10 to 20 per year) you’ll know how monotonous these will become.
So what can you do to jazz things up?
First; how much should we spend? I have been to some children’s parties where I have left feeling very guilty as I believe the party bag cost more than the gift we brought to the party. This was in no way intentional and creates another question of how much should we spend on a gift for a child we barely know anything about?
Anyway, with my daughters 2nd birthday coming up I decided to do a bit of research and here are a few new and some slightly pricey ideas I came across; sweet cones, books, small gifts (such as toys but not the usual cheap tat), flower seeds and pot, colouring books, boxed cupcakes, masks and a cape. All fab ideas but when catering for 20+ children as well as providing food and entertainment for the actual party, this can work out quite expensive.
So, after much thought and many complaints from my husband we decided to go with the traditional low-cost party bag; slice or cake, a couple of sweets, bubbles and a cheap toy.
At the moment I guess we’re quite lucky our daughter won’t really remember details such as what was in her 2nd Birthday party bags and her peers are currently too young to be able to communicate any disappointment!
However, I guess we should just start saving now for her 5th Birthday, party bags!