I stood on the steps outside my seven-year-old son’s classroom, desperately trying to smooth his hair down with water from a school beaker. The teacher’s words ‘It’s school photo day today; does mummy want to do something with your hair?’ were ringing (and stinging) in my ears. I felt more than a little deficient as a mother. In fact I felt rubbish.
Of course, there had been a parent mail about it – it had simply slipped under the radar with the multitude of other things I had to juggle: home, job, children, dogs and husband (in no particular order, obviously!).
Enough was enough. Something had to change and I resolved to be more organised. So I started with the overdue birthday party I’d been contemplating (but never quite planning) since the beginning of July.
Where to start? I might have wanted to be more organised, but was still pressed for time and completely at a loss as to how to go about finding a party idea that hadn’t already been done a million times within his group of friends. And I didn’t have loads of money to throw at it; I needed to find a cost effective, easy way of planning and holding this party, while giving the impression that I had spent hours of thought and effort on pulling it all together – children’s parties can be so competitive.
I discovered Dizzy Rhino’s website and found exactly what I was looking for. The company was established by two busy parents, aka My Saviours, who had clearly experienced similar party dilemmas and wanted to make the world a better place for fellow sufferers.
They have essentially created a party in a box. Depending on the age (and attention span) of the children, you can choose from a selection of high quality and creative kits. My son was at the lower end of their 7-14 age range, but I found single activity kits for six children which would suit him well and a full on complete party box for 6 which was my eventual choice. It gave three themed activities with detailed method cards timed to provide a couple of hours of creative fun away from modern technologies, including…get this… gift bags, invites and thank you cards, as well as a delightful wooden bunting decoration and a unique guest book frame as memento of the day.
And they offered free delivery so it was simply a case of rushing out some invitations.
All I had to do, was provide the food and all important birthday cake, relax and enjoy the experience of a hassle free, unique birthday party, where I could be an active participant rather than a bystander, watching someone else entertaining my child.
I’ll definitely be back on the Dizzy Rhino website for the next party that comes around…unexpectedly!
Kim Olden is an incredibly busy mother of five who really ought to run juggling workshops – that’s life juggling not …
