RookieMoms Blog

We threw a real birthday party for Holden this year and we tried to do it on the cheap. The funny thing was that we had a great plan — some of it was even well-executed — and we still spent more than $150. Ouch!

I think with hindsight, I could cut that to $55ish.

So, learn from my successes and my mistakes and throw a super-cheap birthday party for your three-year old!

1. Limit the guest list. It cannot be overstated that the easiest way to cut costs is to cut guests. Holden wanted a “big party” so we started off with an evite of all his friends (who come with parents at this age), our whole family (most of whom live out of state and wouldn’t come), my coworkers, and all our friends with kids (who, of course, come with kids).

   The evite was up to 37 adults before I asked WTF: Is Holden’s idea of a BIG PARTY even this big? On the brink of sending the message; we decided, no, and chose a few kids who were his close friends (the ones he would choose) and their folks. Ahhh, better.

2. Choose a free place! We’ve been to some super fun third birthday parties this year: an all bouncy house party, a play space rental party, a pirate themed party (also with bouncy houses), a kickas$ backyard festival, and had our own fantasies of petting zoos and king cobras. Luckily, we asked the kid where he wanted to celebrate and he chose the local (and free!) playground with picnic tables. Yeehaw.

   We had a biking theme and brought Holden’s trike and “wobbly bike” for others to try out and encouraged his guests to do the same. It was terrific. Between the kids, we had a scooter and another tricycle to add to the mix. Kids were great about sharing and trying out the different sets of wheels.

3. Let the kid choose the menu (within reason) After all, kid food is cheap food. I offered some choices I could live with: sandwiches, pizza, or Mexican and Holden chose (emphatically) sandwiches. When pressed for specifics, he wanted PBJ. Hecka cheap. He also asked for dry cereal, but I decided that was too weird.

   The morning of, we cut about 5 sandwiches into quarters and then panicked about what the adults would eat. I went to the grocery store for a last minute run on beverages (water bottles, juice boxes, milk boxes), berries, water melon, green salad to the tune of $83. I think a little pre-planning might have helped.

   You don’t need to cater the party to the taste of the adults. Worst case, they leave a little hungry and don’t think that three-year olds eat very well. So what. Maybe they’ll snack before coming next year. Best case, they appreciate your simplicity and think that the kid planned a menu of his favorites (in this case it was true!).

4. Limit the decorations.
   

   Again, this is a place where you can go unnecessarily overboard. For about $30 at the party supply outlet, I got 3 helium balloons (best investment!), blue plates, blue cups, blue napkins, plastic cutlery, a teensy 3 candle, and a white table covering.

   The solid blue stuff was good because it can all be reused (Hannukah!!) but we really only used the plates. All the food was finger food (only one mom touched our green salad with a plastic fork, the rest was undisturbed) and drink boxes. I could have probably gotten away with spending $5 on just the balloons, plates, candle, and table coverings.

5. Bake your own mini cupcakes. For $5 rather than my $42, you can bake some tasty mini cupcakes if time permits. Instead, I went to one of my favorite bakeries and custom ordered (the minimum) 24 cupcakes. We also baked cookies (because he very specifically asked for cake and cookies, but the kids didn’t go for them, so they were tragically wasted.

My grand total was $257ish = $83 (food) + $30 (decorations + $42 (cupcakes) + $0 (location) + $7 (favors of sand toys to use today and take away) virtual $100 (invitations)

My revised grand total $55ish = $45 (less food) + $5 (less decorations) + $5 (cheaper cupcakes or $12 for a dozen brownie bites) + $7 (reusable favors) $0 (for location and invitations)

Thankfully I have bypassed the phase of new motherhood where all I can think about are my nipples. I mean, seriously people, what’s up with the “it doesn’t hurt if you are doing it right” myth about nursing?! It’s crap. It hurts. It does! For my first kid, it was excruciating for about 5 weeks. I know that was on the extreme side, but I had a really bad time with it. Like a trooper, or perhaps a fearful Berkeley mother who didn’t believe that bottle feeding was an option, I marched onward and breastfed my son for 15 months. With Baby Sis, I was prepared for the pain. It lasted a few days and it did not crush my spirit, for I knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel. A light whereby my baby’s food supply is always ready, heated, and sanitary. And I like that. So onward I went and have logged almost 11 months of using my nipples as milk dispensers. If you told me about this 10 years ago, I would not have believed any of it, by the way.

So before #2 arrived, I bought myself every cream and soothing device available to (wo)man so that I would be prepared for the painful break-in period. Including Mommy’s Bliss Nipple Cream, which today, I am told by Amazon.com, has been recalled. “The product contains potentially harmful ingredients that may cause respiratory distress or vomiting and diarrhea in infants.” You must be kidding.

Anyone else wanting their money back??

We’re building a TasteBook of all our favorite recipes. We’re collecting recipes that we love that are worth the effort, ones that can be doubled and frozen, ones that we can make with a kid on our hip or one climbing a leg, and recipes that are sweet sweet naptime indulgences

Will you help us? It’s easy.

1. Join TasteBook (it’s free).
2. Add your favorite recipes or find some using the site search.
3. Share them with us at MOMS [at] rookiemoms.com.

We’ll include all our favorites in the Rookie Mom’s TasteBook Series.

Regardless, you can use TasteBook to mix and match your favorites with ours…

I think it was summer vacation after second grade when my babysitter introduced me to General Hospital and I stopped watching Rocky & Bullwinkle in favor of a full hour of sudsy fun with Rick Springfield and the rest of the Port Charles gang.

Our routine during that summer included riding bikes down to the pool at our condo complex and heading home for lunch and the soaps before playing in the front yard until my mom came home from work.

I remember being a champion bike rider and a fearless roller skater (have never really mastered the blades) and kind of a fearful little swimmer. There were a couple of reasons — other than my love for Luke + Laura — that kept me timid in the water.

• I’m super pale. Yep, the kids teased me mercifully and called me Casper after the ghost. I spent YEARS afraid of wearing shorts and I’m still self-conscious in a swimsuit.
• I can’t dive. I still can’t. Never learned. Always afraid of getting water up my nose.
• I burn easily and no matter how hard my mom (my sitter, my now-husband, or myself…) tried, we’d always miss a spot. Like my butt cheek and I couldn’t sit comfortably for a week, or that spot behind my knee, or the part of my hair. Ouch. See #1.

But just like my secret loathing of mango, I don’t want my boys to inherit a distaste for swimming pools and oceans. So we all suit up in our requisite swim diapers and super suits (me in a rashguard and them looking like super heroes) and water hats and go for it!

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This swim down memory lane was inspired by this weekend’s blog blast with Parent Bloggers and Huggies Little Swimmers

On Saturday, from 10am to 3pm, we’ll be (wo)manning the Rookie Mom’s Table at the Birth and Baby Fair at Fort Mason. Come on out and see us!

Saturday, May 24th • 10am to 3pm
Fort Mason Conference Center
99 Marina Blvd • San Francisco, CA 94123

• Decorate a Onesie at our Onesie-of-a-kind area (is a corner of a table really a station?)
• Buy our books — We’ll have a few dozen to sell and autograph with a special trade show price.
• Just say “hi” if you’ve ever read our site!

There’s also other way cool stuff to see and do and buy if you’re expecting a baby like get maternity clothes at a discount, visit tables with unbelievably cute mom-preneur inventions and clothes, and learn from experts about birthing options. More details here at birthandbabyfair.com.

With the May 30th premier of SATC, the movie, the timing is just about perfect for a children’s book that celebrates the virtues of being single, having fun with your friends, and seeing the world over marrying a dullard prince. The message of Princess Bubble is loud and clear: find your own happily ever after!

I like the message and the illustrations enough to share this cute find with you, but I’m not really sure what the appropriate target age might be. It strikes me that the tween, teen, and twenty-something young ladies that could really benefit from this message are probably not reading books like this anymore.

As with the Rookie Mom’s Handbook, we share a common idea that a happy (and confident) mom leads to happy and confident children.

I’ll try it out on Holden tonight and figure out if the amusing puns fly right over his head. So, for those of you with princess wannabes at home, is this book perfect or what?

Tomorrow we’re having a party to celebrate our book and we want to invite all you rookie mamas. Realistically, we’ll just expect those of you who live in the Bay Area to show up.

The details:

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
11:00am - 12:30pm

Studio Grow
1035 10th Street at Gilman
Berkeley, CA
510.526.9888

Here’s what will be happening:

At this fun-filled event, Heather and Whitney will offer tips for first-time moms on how to maintain your individuality and boost your confidence with the new baby in your life. Meet other new moms and participate in fun activities that will inspire you to discover baby-friendly destinations and adventures.

FUN ACTIVITIES FOR YOU AND BABY, INCLUDING

• Babywearing session: 5-10 different carriers will be available for moms to try on. Sponsored by Waddle and Swaddle
• Baby Portrait Station: Your newborn cutie can get their photo snapped by a professional photographer, Jen Molander
• Onesie-of-a-kind Decorating Station: We supply the materials, you leave with a cute new top for your baby
• Raffle for baby items, including
  • $25 Studio Grow “Green Card” for a family’s admission to Studio Grow
  • An autographed copy of Rookie Mom’s Handbook (with many more on sale!)
  • Mommy Organizer
  • Moby Wrap
  • A Lucky Brand Baby outfit worth $100.00!

Immediately following the event, Studio Grow will be hosting Baby Grow, their weekly drop-in parent discussion group for parents of children 0-12 months. Group is facilitated by Judy Alley, a pediatric social worker.

That’s what I think it every time I change a poopy diaper. My friend Laurie told me that while I was changing a diaper at her house and it’s revolutionized my thinking (if not my actual habits).

I think we’ve tried nearly every kind of disposable diaper disposal system and I hate them all. My preferred method is now to wrap the offending Huggie in a plastic bag then whisk the fecal diaper right outside and into the big bin to wait for it’s Thursday pick-up.

But you need to have buy in from other adults in the household for that method to work. Otherwise, you just have poopy diapers laying around — not going into the champ — waiting for their bag or their escort to the street.

Can anyone please help me?!
What works best for those offensive toddler diapers?

Our current disposal model goes like this:

• Pee diapers go right into the diaper champ.
• Poopy diapers go right outside or wait around festering.

In the boys’ bedroom, we have a diaper champ. It stinks for toddler diapers. Even with a trucker air freshener. It worked just great for those sweet(er)-smelling newborn diapers.

At my mom’s house, there’s a diaper genie. Too confusing. And those plastic sausages strike me as super un-environmentally-friendly. I already have disposable diaper guilt.

In the bathroom, we have a flip top garbage pail. It stinks like a revolving door onto a sewage processing plant.

Also in the bathroom, we have a small garbage can that we use for other bathroom garbage, but I find that if I just keep diapers in there until they bug me, it’s a pretty workable system.

Related links:
> Cloth vs. Disposable, the great debate with information on both sides of the aisle. Maybe we should all meet in the middle on g-diapers?
> Baby Cheapskate; let Angie do all the legwork for you to track down the best deals on Diapers (and other stuff!)
> Promo Code for Diapers.com: save $10 off your first order of $49 when you enter code DAISY. Free shipping over $49 is extremely fast (like next day fast).

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The good folks at diapers.com offered me a $75 gift certificate to try their service upon reading about my diaper woes. I bought some Huggies at an excellent deal and 4 tubes of Desitin for an okay price. Free and fast shipping really blew my mind. The diapers came the next day! Amazing!! Now if they could only find a way to stop the stink!!

So we had a “blog blast” last week. How fun is that? We wrangled some prize bags and asked a bunch of parent bloggers to blog about their rookie year as a mom.

Here are the results:

Secret Mom Thoughts: Adventures

Rockin’ Mama: A Rookie at Heart

Flibbs.com: Battling Yoda and Diaper Flaps at the Same Time

Susie J: Dining in a Wine-List Restaurant with Kids

PhotoChick: Flashback Fridays Featuring Awesome Outings

Cheese Party: Flying With Baby Times Ten

Midwestern MommyFrom Target to Take Out: My Rookie Mom Year

Havoc and Mayhem: How Not to Take Your Newborn to Florida

Get a Grip Mom: Hug-a-By Baby

Temporarily Me: Integrating Into a New World: Rookie Style

Thrifty Toddler: It’s the Breakfast Club, Baby!

MotherGooseMouse: Leaving on a Jet Plane

How Much Is a Duck Worth: Mommy Needs Out Field Trip, and a Fun Site Shout Out!

My Family Loves It: My First Year as a MOM: Restaurants, Playgroup & Hockey!

Mayberry Mom: Never Too Young for Happy Hour

WhitneyandRyan.comThe One Where Julian was a Frat Boy

MamaDrama: Outings with your kids ~ OR ~ IfWeDon’tGetOutaThisHouseRightNowI’mGoingToGoCrazy!!

After The Bubbly: Pumps to Pampers: My First Year of Motherhood

Baby PhD: Rug Shopping with a 2 Month Old

One in 36 million: Sand in His Butt-Crack

Frankly Frivolous: Strawberries and Greeks for Baby

The Dana Files: Take Me Out to the Mall Game

Zrob: This Time Last Year - First Time Eating Out

The Kiddie Clique: The Torturing of Charlotte

Motherhood Uncensored: What to Wear at BlogHer 2008: A Sleeping Baby

And a Baby: Who Doesn’t Love a Montage?

I’m not the very crafty rookie mom. I’m the wannabe. I love it when Whitney and I can set aside time and have the goods to make an adorable thing. Last time we tried to do that — it was even my idea — I still came away with a half-finished pair of pants because I never bought elastic.

That said, Alec and I made our own wedding invitations because we’re super cheap (or is it because invitations are crazy expensive?) We invested in special adhesive, a paper cutter, and all the paper bits. The invitations looked pretty good and we had fun making them. Of course, we didn’t have a kid then so we could leave our precious little piles of half-finished paper all over the apartment and not worry about that mammoth paper cutter falling into the wrong hands.

We made Holden’s birth announcements too by piecing together a template in Word and finding a template at an office supply store. They looked not nearly as nice, but we finished the project before he turned one with the time and materials we could deal with.

I tell you these things because I would love it if I were creative and patient enough to design (and make) such beautiful invitations and birth announcements as you can get in a few minutes on TinyPrints.com. It’s really all I can handle to come up with the addresses and stamp the envelopes before price of postage changes again. I wish I were kidding.

First birthday: evite. Second birthday: no party. We had some making up to do and went with tiny*prints for the Big 0-3.

The selection of birthday party invitations is fantastic. I almost ordered the screaming boy (without photo) before remembering my original goal was to create a unique photo-personalized birthday invitation. Oops!

The process to create and order my invitations and matching thank you cards was quite simple. The hard part was choosing the photo and picking which design matched Holden’s outfit the best. Maybe I’ll also use tiny*prints for my upcoming 40th birthday or some other super special occasion, but I don’t think I would shell out the money for the average kid’s birthday party (almost $100 for 25 invites and too-cute-to-pass-up matching Thank You cards).

I highly recommend tiny*prints for Baby Announcements — adorable designs, easy to create and personalize (during the span of one nap), and printed on sturdy card stock. The finished product really makes you look put together. And thin and well-rested.

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I was given the chance to order and review tiny*prints birthday invitations by the Parent Bloggers Network. Thanks guys! Find out what other parents think of the t*p product line from birth announcements to moving and communion.