With today's economy, expensive celebrations have to be pared down. They even did this at the Oscars. Here are five tips that will help you take down the cost of throwing a teen birthday party - but still give your teen a really fun bash.
- Use free printables on the internet. Don't spend $5-$10 for eight invitations, print out the invites free here.
- Teens love 'make-your-own food'. There is no need to cater when a make-your-own Sundae Bar can easily be set up and it costs less.
- Pull out the DVD player or speakers for a MP3 player for entertainment. You can show movies or have a MP3 shuffle dance. (This is when someone hits the shuffle on their IPod for instance, and then they play what comes up.)
- Combine things that will save you some cost. Like at a girly sleepover, making a bracelet will count for an activity and a party favor.
- Use your space. The backyard is the best place to have an active sports party and your garage can be turned into a dance club for very little cost. Think of creative ways to use your own space to save money before renting out a hall or restaurant.
Related Resources:
- Teen Birthday Party Planner
- Birthday Party Themes and Ideas
- Five Reasons You Should Throw a Party with Your Teen
This post is my contribution to the All About Parenting blog carnival on birthdays, to be posted March 1 on About.com Young Adults.
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My son is a heavy sleeper. When he was 12, he was still wetting the bed because he could not wake up even if his bladder was full. We found out through a special program that sleeping on a piece of cardboard helped to take the comfort out of the bed. Now he chooses to sleep on the floor. I’m glad because I worry that if he can’t wake to an alarm, what would happen if we had a house fire. Try the cardboard (from a heavy box) between the mattress and sheet. She’ll complain at first, but she’ll get to sleep…and maybe wake up on time
Some people just sleep more heavily than others. My sister was a very heavy sleeper, I am a very light sleeper. When we were children, we had bunk beds. I remember one night my sister fell off the top bunk, I woke up before she hit the floor, but she slept through it, didn’t even wake up when she hit the floor, just kept sleeping. I have one daughter that is the same way, she can sleep through anything. Most days I wake her up and sometimes it takes awhile. If she has to wake herself up in the morning, she will “tell herself” when she goes to bed that she has to get up when the alarm goes off, and most of the time it works. But, she sleeps better, more restful sleep, if she doesn’t have to do that, so I continue to wake her up most of the time. There must be a physical reason why some people sleep more soundly than others. I’m sure my sister didn’t “choose” not to wake up when she fell out of bed. We usually discipline our children for “bad” choices that they make. It doesn’t make sense to me to punish someone for the way they sleep. Maybe you and your daughter could talk to her doctor and find out if there is something you can do to help her more easily wake up in the morning.
We’ve had the same problem with our 18-year old. Someone else has already explained about children’s melatonin levels changing as they reach their teen years. This is a scientific fact, so it’s extremely difficult for these young people to adjust to regular hours. We also found out that our son has DSPS – Delayed sleep phase syndrome, which occurs fairly often in especially teenage boys. All people with this syndrome can sleep though Big Ben sounding off in the morning, as their body functions differently to the norm, so it’s worth checking this out.
While it’s understood that we live in the big bad world and can’t just do as we please, we as parents can do well to have a little compassion on the struggle they’re having. It’s not deliberate, planned or desired, so why become harsh about ‘helping’ them?
I know my son wants to be at school on time, and wants go with what’s required of him, but is in a struggle. I do what I would normally do when I see someone I love in a struggle: try to understand it, give support in such a way that it doesn’t take away from his responsibility to himself and remind him that hopefully ‘this too shall pass.’