Project Chickens before the Eggs – Lesson 76 – Chicken parties and broken bones

Last year, as part of a personal challenge, I tried to see if I could hold a children’s birthday party for under 10 dollars. Not only was I able to do it but the kids went to the movies (at the local library) ate cake, candy and ice cream and even did some crafts for a total of $3.19.

This year I wasn’t necessarily trying to come in under 10 dollars but I was still trying to make it thrifty.

Why not use the chickens, I thought? They provide easy free entertainment and a great learning opportunity.

When the party started, I had the kids sit off to the side and we let out the larger birds. I talked about what we do to take care of them and about the different types of eggs we get. The piece de la resistance was, of course, the baby chicks that we brought out for the kids to see.

The kids had plastic eggs filled with candy, peeps on their cupcakes, ice cream and a box of chocolate marshmallow eggs to take home. Many thanks go to the half price Easter remains.

The day was bright, sunny, and warm and after the cake the kids decided to play hide and go seek. All was well until someone came running up to me telling me that my daughter Emma was hurt.

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March 24th and the Christmas tree is still up (’til midnight anyway)

Today is Griffin’s birthday. If you recall his birthday wish was to have the Christmas tree still up on his birthday.  (The Absolutely Perfect Birthday Wish)

We made it.

Even though it meant we had a Christmas tree up on New Years and Valentines’ Day and on St. Patrick’s Day and dangerously close to Easter…

Project Chickens before the Eggs – Lesson 61 – Chickens in ceremonies

Throughout the ages, in different cultures, chickens have long held a revered place in important ceremonies. From Wikipedia:

IndonesiaIn Indonesia the chicken has great significance during the Hindu cremation ceremony. A chicken is considered a channel for evil spirits which may be present during the ceremony. A chicken is tethered by the leg and kept present at the ceremony for its duration to ensure that any evil spirits present during the ceremony go into the chicken and not the family members present. The chicken is then taken home and returned to its normal life.

The absolutely perfect Birthday wish

For birthdays in our house, much like at Christmas, you are allowed to ask for one gift and the rest are surprises.

The kids often think long and hard about this one gift. We’ve had every request from the newest talk and cry baby doll, to cash, to requesting a one-on-one lunch with a parent.

I thought I had heard it all but this most recent request took me by surprise.

A little discussion on Cheap vs. Thrifty

I recently got this comment on a post I did about having a birthday party for my daughter where I spent a total of $3.19. At the party the kids went to a movie, had candy, came home, did crafts, and then had cake and ice cream.

Here is the comment:

Simple Thrift Column – The Nashua Telegraph April 7 – 2009 – birthday parties and stretching meat

Wendy Thomas – Simple Thrift
Published: Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Nashua Telegraph
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com

Tricks for birthday parties and stretching meat

If you talk long enough with any group of parents, eventually the conversation will turn to birthday parties and how over the years they’ve gotten out of hand. Parties used to be a time when you could get kids together, play a few games at the house, and eat some cake and ice cream. Reasonable gifts were exchanged, and if you were lucky, you left with a small bag of treats to take home.

Not so today. Parties now are all about bigger and better. A standard party is a movie at a dinner theater, two hours at a bouncy studio, bowling and pizza, or even hitting baseballs in a cage. Everyone in the class gets an invitation whether they are friends or not.

Hooray! We’re Glad You Are Here! – How A Birthday Flag Can Be A Thrifty Investment

While we are on the topic of birthday parties, one of the best thrifty investments we have ever made for our family was purchased for the birth of our first child.

The family birthday flag

Unbeknownst to me, my husband (who already knew that I was really into celebrating holidays) ordered a large hand-made heavy canvas Birthday flag. It had brass grommets at the top, featured a bunch of balloons, and spelled out Happy Birthday in large dark blue letters. He doesn’t remember what he paid for it, but he knows he didn’t pay a lot.

A Birthday Party That Didn’t Break The Bank – The Results

This weekend I tried to do the near impossible. I tried to have a Birthday party for my 9 year old daughter with a budget of less than 10 dollars.

photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography

Sounds crazy? Well to me what sounds even crazier are the prices that parents are paying for their children’s birthday parties these days. Between the cost for renting sites like bouncy places or baseball cages and the cost for pizza or burgers, a store bought cake, ice cream, candy, oh and let’s not forget the goodie bags – things have become insane. One could (and many do) pay well over several hundred dollars for a single birthday party.

I think the most absurd party I ever went to was for a 1 year old child. The parents rented a tent (in case it rained – which it didn’t) had it catered, and hired both a clown and a purple dinosaur to entertain the kids who came to the party (which ended up being relatives and neighbors – I mean seriously how many friends does a 1 year old have?).

Now remember that the Birthday boy was 1 year old. He ended up napping pretty much through the entire party. Was all that really necessary to show that you love your child and are thankful they are here?

Well I love my daughter. I would lay my life down for my daughter. But you’re not going to ever catch me spending that kind of money for a party like that for her.