What to do if parent's don't stay at your child's birthday party and you are unwell or heavily pregnant

If parent's refuse to stay with their children during the party or if you are unwell or heavily pregnant, here are some ideas:

Hire a clown or fairy to keep the children at the party occupied :) as long as you check that it's ok with the venue (it

usually is- Im a clown and fairy and I've worked in heaps of places including Mc Donalds). Then all you need to worry about is making sure the cake gets served, cut and distributed. If you don't want to get an entertainer, here are a couple of ideas that might help:

• Remember that you can just invite a couple of you child's friends and have a small party. Small parties have cool possibilities. They are only limited by your imagination. A fun party I clowned at once involved a group of 5 girls who were given disposable cameras, a big mirror and a dress up box full of old clothes. They had so much fun! I was only hired for 1/2 hr but they had been dressing up for an hour before I got there, made ME dress up (haha I WAS dressed up- I was a clown!) and had plans for dressing up after I left.
• Find what your child and their friends really enjoy doing at the moment and theme the party around that. 
• Set up a 'bubble basin' that is a big tub that is hard to knock over and get heaps of bubble blowers for the kids. Make sure that noone drinks the bubble mix and I STRESS make sure it is hard to tip over- because the kids will knock it about. If you like you could give out the little bubble blower and bubble mix containers that you get at weddings.
• You could go to a children's playcentre or an outdoor park- there are some really cool fenced off ones in Queensland, Im sure there would be some near you too. Arrange with the children that when you blow a horn or ring a bell that they come in for a 'surprise'. Then they will usually come in. Ask another parent or one of your relatives to stay and just be the one to round up the kids that don't come. Make sure the first couple of times you blow the horn/ring the bell it is for something exciting and cool like getting their bubble blowers or a spot of glitter on their nose or a balloon. If you have the party at a fenced park or a playcentre, you don't have to do as much 'policing' as most of the things will be child friendly. You also won't have to do as many activities as you might if they were somewhere else.
• Take care of yourself and don't plan the party to go for too long a time. A good present for your daughter is happy healthy parents!

Good luck

Tanya :)