Moms Talk is a new feature on Woodridge Patch that is part of a new initiative on our Patch sites to reach out to moms and families.
Woodridge Patch invites you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support for mothers and their families right here in Woodridge.
Each week in Moms Talk, our Moms Council of experts and smart moms take your questions, give advice and share solutions.
Mom Council Members: Suzy Chudzik, Debbie Howe and Elena Taylor
Today's Topic: Birthday parties. What are good themes? How many kids do you invite? How do you decide who to invite and who not to invite? What are good ideas for tweens and teens?
Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
My daughter is an only child so when she was young we used to make sure each girl in her class was invited but that got really expensive. Then as she got older we brought the number down to 10 girls but then she felt bad if she invited one person and not another so we told her to make us the bad guys. We usually like to go someplace for a party and like Suzy we have done, everything from Mini golf at enchanted castle to a jump party and I am always keeping an open mind to other places. Now she will be turning 12 this year and I think we are going to let her pick where and but let her work with a budget. She could take one friend and go overnight waterpark or she could take her close friends for a shorter party to places that they can do bead work or crafts or even a movie. But I do remind her that this is a birthday party and we have to stay in budget or it gets taken out of the budget for next year. I was very proud of her that when her girl scout troup went to "feed my starving children" in Naperville and packaged food for starving people in other countries she found it to be a lot of fun and suggested having a birthday party doing this. Great idea, the people there make it a lot of fun and it is giving back while having fun.