Rosie's Blog

By Aunt Susan


I don’t know why people don’t do this more often.  You get more bang for the buck.  Two sisters with birthdays close together celebrated with one big party.  They each have they own friends but they also have the same friends from the neighbourhood and the same cousins. So why not?!  It not just for siblings.  Best friends, cousins, neighbours, classmates etc who have birthdays close together can celebrated together and still feel special.  I mean really….think about it. If it’s going to be the same guests anyways. You split the cost of everything including the entertainment.  Some entertainers don’t care how many kids are at the party.  Split the cost of the food, decorations, loot bags and together you set up and take down.  How easy is that?!  To make sure each birthday child feels special you can have special birthday hats, their own table with their own special friends, both names on the cake with their favourites character by their name, the entertainer can make it a point to feature each birthday child etc….it can work very, very well.  I have seen it work beautifully with siblings, cousins and best friends. 

This weekend we entertained at a sisters joint birthday party.  The girls were just so happy to have all their friends over.  It was a wonderful way to have a neighbourhood party with all the moms and the kids.  Many of them just strolled over with the kids in the wagon.  There was a BBQ and everyone went for a swim in the pool after the puppet show (which was us).

The group of kids were a pleasure to entertain.  At one point I got them singing “If you’re happy and you know it”.  I said they weren’t loud enough and they should turn up their volume dial to as far as it can go.  One girl said “To 400!”  and another little girl said “NO…To 19!!!”  whoa… that’s much louder than 400 dontcha think?  The birthday girl said “NO…TO 41!” and as you know …41 is the loudest….why that’s even louder than 11.  Most people’s volume dial only go up to 10 …but when you need that extra boost of loudness…you go to 11 . But 41???!!!!  That’s definitely the loudest!  Hee hee.  I love my job.

By Aunt Susan


Parties are fun.  At least they’re suppose to be.  Some parties have such a safety risk that it pops the stress level real high and drives the fun level down, especially for the person hosting the party.


Pool parties can be lots of fun.  Supervision by adults and or a qualified life guard  is crucial.  Safety first!

I attended a backyard pool party with my husband and my 2 boys one summer.  Lots of families with children were there celebrating July 1st Canada Day.  No one was assigned life guard duty.  My 2 boys were in the pool so my husband and I parked ourselves at the pool side to keep an eye on them.  In just the short time we were there, a 6 year old girl who couldn’t swim jumps off the diving board into the deep end.  She was gasping for air and going down when my husband saw her.  I jumped in with all my clothes on and got her to safety.  So… I’m back on the deck drying off and I see a 4 year old bouncing along holding on to the side of the pool.  Well he bounced himself right into the deep end.  In I go again and pulled that kid out. I haven’t even stopped dripping and I see a toddler at the edge of the pool ready to fall into the water.  I catch her just as she falls in. And then there’s this stupid kid who pushed my son’s head in the water.  Come on folks!!! Pool parties have serious safety  issues!

In my town someone decided to rent a town pool for their kid’s birthday party….yup…you guessed it…. A kid drowned.  It happens really, really fast.  It only takes 12 seconds. There is a life guard training video where a family decides to have a birthday pool party…just like the one I mentioned above.  The video was taken from a surveillance camera.  One of the guests was terrified of the water…but the birthday child’s mom promised that she would watch him and keep him close.  Guess who drowned.  The child was resuscitated but he has permanent  brain damaged.  If you’re thinking of having such a party…. you need to watch that video before you start sending out the invitations.  And if you still want to do a pool party, safety first!  Make sure you have adults assigned life guard duty at ALL times (at least one life guard on duty per 25 kids… and that’s stretching it) and make sure you have insurance.

by Aunt Susan

by Aunt Susan

By Aunt Susan

By Aunt Susan

By Aunt Susan


Christina our biggest fan.  We did her birthday last year and she requested us for this year’s birthday party.  Her mother didn’t think she wanted to see the same puppet show.  No problem.  We record what we do for each party and we can definitely do a completely new show for her.  I try to fit into the show the birthday child’s favourite things. Christina’s favourite story “Alice in Wonderland”  Whoa…that’s a tough one.  Where’s Johnny Dep when I need him?  It’s O.K…. We’ll figure this one out.  When we made the magic birthday cake with the White Rabbit, we sang Happy Birthday to Christina and we sang the UNbirthday song to everyone else.  I had to learn that song.  I sang it for an entire week before the party.  And I also had to learn Christina’s favourite song “Miss Polly had a Dolly”. Thank goodness for Youtube and the Wiggles.  It went over really well and everyone sang along.  During The Three Little Pigs, Christina came up to the stage to hug the Big Bad Wolf and to console him after two of the pigs got away.  Ha ha.  Oh my… that Christina is a real “Sparkle”. (see my blog “The Sparkle in the Eyes” Feb. 21, 2011)

By Aunt Susan



I personally feel a little fun competition at a party is O.K.. but  some kids can’t handle losing.  A game where there are winners and losers is too stressful for these kids.  So much that they will refuse to participate.  I have seen kids tremble when they sense someone else is going to win.  It’s as if their whole self worth has just gone down the toilet.  Because of this, I have chosen to down play the competitive aspect of party games so there are no obvious winners or losers.  Only because in my business I am the one who is suppose to bring the happiness.  I can’t have any unhappy guests. Some parents feel I should not change things because the games are fun and there’s always going to be some kid sulking over something.  It’s always something. It’s true…there’s no pleasing those kids…(and some parents).  However I would rather not set up a situation where these kids have the excuse to sulk…or cry… or have a complete melt down.  That’s right…no more “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”  No more “Musical Chairs”.  No more “Bean Bag Toss” etc etc.. Some parents suggest I give everyone a prize no matter who wins.  That would diminish the victory of the child who actually earned her prize. Perhaps the age of the children need to be taken into consideration when choosing games.  The disappointment of losing requires maturity. But I have seen older children and teenagers become nervous wrecks at the thought of losing.  Have you ever seen parents at a hockey game when their kid’s team is losing? Wow.



Some schools have eliminated competitive activities to protect the self esteem of children.  Are we breeding mediocrity here? Like they don’t  think these kids will figure it out when they grow up and find out the world awards the best? Self esteem and confidence is built from accomplishments.  A little at a time, reaching your goals and being proud of your achievements. Competition awards excellence. You earned it, you deserved it. Great! Congratulations! Instead of eliminating competitive activities they should have programs in place to build children’s self esteem. And what would these programs entail? How ‘bout service.  Here is a piece of advice from the wise:

"Our sense of self-worth is also key to being able to appreciate the other factors of fulfillment. Interestingly, feeling compassion for others is the most reliable way to increase our own self-worth"   Dalai Lama

 

 

 

by Aunt Susan



 My crew and I always shop talk after we do a party.  Always looking to improve, we discuss the best and the worst of each party.  Time and time again, the same things come up.  The best part is always when the children let go of any inhibitions, believe and participate.  The worst is the opposite.  When children are skeptical, refuse to participate and sulk. Even have melt downs.  We don’t know why some children are the way they are but we have seen them all.

We play a game call “Pass the Poison Apple”.  When the music plays you pass the apple along to the next princess.  When the music stops, the princess who is holding the apple must pretend to fall into a deep sleep just like Snow White.  She is essentially out of the game.  The game continues until there is a winner which is the one remaining Princess. I have seen girls excited and hoping to be caught with the apple.  When they are, they perform such a dramatic swoon they deserve an Oscar. And then there are those who are so terrified of being caught with the apple that they refuse to play.  Some get caught and refuse to go out.  Guess which girls have more fun?  Guess what type we prefer to entertain?  However, we have to be ready to handle any situation.  What happens if the sulky girl is the birthday girl?  I guess she could say as the song goes “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to…cry if I want to…”  As entertainers, we have to make this all better.

The birthday girl has to be happy.  In fact, all the guests should be happy.  Our job is to bring the happiness. And that’s what we are paid to do… bring the happiness and entertain….not baby-sit or discipline children.  Any difficult behaviour should be handled by the parents. A birthday party is not exactly the best time and place to deal with behaviour issues.  So do we cater to the sulky child’s wishes?  You betcha!  There’s a saying “The customer is always right”?  There is no such thing as a bad audience…just bad entertainers.  In the people pleasing business, not only are we entertainers, we also need to be psychologists. If you can figure out how to make your costumers happy you will have a successful business. At the end of the party, we get to go home.  As for the parents…. those wonderful darlings are all yours.

by Aunt Susan