Let’s kick off October with some party politics. Nope, I’m not talking about the dear chaps and chapesses who run (aherm) our country or any of those who want to, I’m talking about something way trickier than that I can tell you! I’m talking about the party politics of organising a children’s birthday party.

Florence will be four on New Year’s Eve which while is still three months away, if you have grand ideas for a party the weekend before Christmas (we will have a family one on her actual birthday) then you really have to start planning way before now! I started yesterday!

Florence wants an ‘I Can Cook’ party on the tail of such a fabulous time at Lollibop when we saw Katy Ashworth perform the live version of her show. She was awesome and we are using the show as a theme for the party because we can adapt it to all the things we like to do:

Make a mess!

Arts and crafts!

Cooking!

We will be decorating pizza as soon as the children arrive. I initially thought about making pizza dough but have abandoned that idea in favour of just buying mini pizza bases. We will then have bowls of all the ingredients required to top them. Once the children are done making pizza and the grown ups are in the kitchen cooking them there will be wooden cooking spoons which they can decorate with prit sticks, shiny things and tissue paper. By the time that activity is done then we shall be eating our creations followed by ice cream which the children can add sprinkles and toppings to! After that there will be traditional party games.

I will get in some drinks and nibbles for the adults too and have fun buying colourful paper plates and bowls. I really enjoy organising a party and Jimmy’s ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ was so much fun for me! I’m doing my usual trick of delegation and tasking my Mum with the job of making everyone an apron as well as the Pinata cake which is going to be fairly grand in itself but I plan on making the party favours (ladybird cake pops) myself! I will try really hard and they WILL be good!

So that’s all the brilliant and easy stuff. Where are the politics?

Hmmm… Well they’re all in the guest list I’m afraid. I totted up the list of people we would like to invite and it came to 32! 32 children all with parents. It’s way too many! Just way too many. Way too many to make it work as a party and way too many to pay for. The things I have planned will be inexpensive but it all adds up and with each child the cost gets more and more! I had to make a cull on the list!

And this is where it gets political. There are people I want to strike off the list but can’t. We’ve been friends too long, it would be too pointed and people would be offended. There are people I want to strike off the list because they annoy me but their children get on with Florence? There are people on the list I want to be there but we haven’t seen for ages and Florence would rather someone she actually plays with was there…

It’s a nightmare! I know we haven’t been invited to certain parties before and it hasn’t bothered me but at the same time I feel really bad not inviting people myself! I have to chop it though so I’m going to have to be ruthless… The slimy Cameron of children’s party planning if you will.

So. I’ve decided. We shall invite the people we see most often or talk about because we want to see them. The guest list will be largely down to Florence. There will be the odd one that I simply HAVE to invite but for the most part I’m gonna be strong and stick to my guns. Hopefully no one will be offended…

Who’d have thought the party politics of a four year old’s birthday party would be so full of mine fields!

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