My ds will be 2 next month-should I throw a party at home or soft play?

[bigspender30]

Have costed it out and reckon it would cost the same for both options. What did you all do and what would you recommend as I just can't decide?

home

DS is also 2 very soon and i feel a bit like Cat - why stress it even more and soft play is hugely stressful IME

also, if i am at home i can have lots of wine, which i will need with a house full of boisterous toddlers

I agree with Cat, you really don't need a big "do" for a 2 year old. Just stick to family and close friends. Dd2 was 2 last month and we spent the day at a local farm park with grandma. We had presents and cakes at home with rest of family back from work/school later in the day and tbh it was enough for her. She had a great day and we will start the party business next year! Or hopefully the year after

I'm with Cat and Ruby - in fact, even more so. DD is two next month and we're not having a party for her - she won't appreciate what it is for and it'll stress me out. We're just having open house and telling people (mainly family) to pop in if they feel like it.

I invited far too many people to ds' 2nd birthday at our house and it was chaotic - if you plan to invite alot of kids I would go with the soft play option, otherwise keep it low key. I heard that the best children's parties are ones where no more children that the number age your child is - so 2 year old invites 2 friends. Then the party remains manageable and fun.

I learned my lesson!

Best piece of advice someone gave on here before was invite 1 child for every year - so on their 2nd birthday, have a small lunch with 2 otehr children, 3 on their 3rd, etc...

You can always have a family thing before or after. I would not be thinking about 'proper' parties yet, but maybe I am just miserable!

Meh!! Just caught glimpse of last post before pressing 'post'

Home. Tom is 2 on saturday and having a party at home with a few toddler friends. I had thought about doing soft play but he can be such a nightmare when you are out and eating out.

He had a party at home last year as well. All my family are down in England, and it's just PIL, SIL & BIL that live up here. And all my friends up here are the other mums!

dd3 is two in three weeks (shock)

we are having a small tea party at home with family and a couple of friends, a picnic if the weather is nice

think having big parties for 2 year olds is pointless.

tbh the party is more for dd1 and dd2 who would be outraged if dd3 didnt at least have a tinsy party

for the others I just did cake and sandwiches with granny

Small party for 2 yr old at home, definitely. Have had soft play parties for DS1 at 2 and 3 Birthdays and they are not that much fun, noone gets to socialise with the birthday child and v expensive. For DS2 this year we had two friends (and DS1) with their Moms and it was lovely, cheap and very stress free. I had made shortbread biscuits which the children then "decorated" and after some play/pass the parcel we had a picnic so they could eat their creations. They loved it. Unstructured and trouble free.

I agree at home better as at 2 parents tend to get dragged in to play which isn't always fun!

A child entertainer can work well at 2.

Otherwise though a party at home has to be SO much cheaper some food and a few games and a LOT of balloons. That has to come to less than £7 per head

an ENTERTAINER

[meh]

Well DD went to a couple of parties with someone who was GREAT - she might have been 3 thinking about it .... It's jsut if the OP wanted LOTS of kids.

I can't think why a party at home wouldn't be cheaper otherwise??

They were called something like Jingle Jangles (but not that)

Jo Jingles?
The other kids in the family range from 1 to 8 so I was trying to find something that would keep everyone entertained. I am stressing already and its a load of sh*t really isn't it? I need to keep it stress free as possible. Can't just invite 2 friends though as there are more than that in the family alone. Then there are the friends who have invited ds to their 2nd parties. Arrgh!!!

How about neither. Hire a hall or room above a pub and beg, borrow or steal a ball pit, maybe a slide,a bubble machine, whatever. If you've got those magic ingredients you only need food, booze and cake and it'll be lovely and you won't need to clean up afterwards.

I think I'm going to go with Cat64 and co's advice and have a small family gathering and I will not get stressed. Thanks for all your input x