For some reason or other, it appears that most parents decide the time to start having birthday parties for their children with their friends is their third birthday.  The parties are a lot of fun because you get to see your son running around and having fun with his friends.  However, that does not mean the parties are without their stresses.

The main stress is getting the right present.  First and foremost, you want to make sure you get an appropriate gift.  You don’t want to show up to a party with a $20 gift when the parents paid $50 or more per child to throw the party.  Avoiding this dilemma is quite easy.  You can go on the place’s website and find out what they charge for a party, or you can call the place to “schedule your own party” to see what the price is per child.  However, this creates another possible problem.

Once you get that first gift, you have effectively set a standard on what you should pay for each and every child’s gifts going forward.  Believe it or not, parents talk.  Better yet, the parents that talk to one another may not be the ones you expect would be talking with one another.  If you got one an action figure and the other a book, sooner or later, they are going to find out about it, and one parent isn’t going to be happy.  That could possibly mean that their child does not attend your son’s birthday party when the time comes.  Either that, or they will retaliate by giving your son a bad gift.  No one wants that.

Speaking of getting what you want, you have to let people know what your child likes.  Now, it would be obnoxious to put on the invitation a list of presents your child likes.  For some reason that works for Wedding and Baby Showers, but it does not work for birthday parties.  However, there is a very subtle way to let everyone know what your child likes:

PUT WHAT YOUR CHILD LOVES ON THE INVITATIONS!

It doesn’t matter if the party is at Chuck E. Cheese, a farm, a zoo, etc.  I don’t know what to buy your child if I get a standard Chuck E. Cheese invitation.  I’m not going to buy your child a giant mouse just because the party is being hosted there.  However, if there is a Mickey Mouse, Thomas the Train, Dora the Explorer, or Mets themed invitation, I know what to buy your child instead of guessing.

One other point.  Only put on there what your child really loves.  There was one parent who wanted to have a “cute” Peppa Pig Themed Party despite the fact that her daughter really loved Frozen.  Apparently, she was able to get reasonably priced Peppa Pig cookie favor and because she was able to get Peppa Pig party favors and decorations reasonably priced.  It is certainly understandable why she did it, but she was also appalled at all of the Peppa Pig presents her daughter got.

The simple reason why she got Peppa Pig presents is no one knows anyone else’s child really well – probably not even their best friend.  It’s why people bought a ton of Peppa Pig things.  They don’t know anything your child likes except what is on the invitation.  With that in mind, even if it doesn’t match the theme of the party per se, make sure your invitations match what your child loves.  It will ensure your child gets presents that they want, and it will help ensure that your child has a Happy Birthday.

And at the end of the day, that’s all a parent wants for their child.