Daily Mail - 05.03.2020

Page 58 Daily Mail, Thursday, March 5, 2020

femail life

A

s l i v e o w l s

swooped around

my garden and 15

c h i l d r e n r a c e d

about on broom-

sticks playing a game of

Quidditch, one incredulous

p a r e n t j o k e d : ‘ Yo u’ v e

certainly set the bar high.’

Who would spend ten hours

c r a f t i n g f o a m ‘ b r o o m s ’ a n d

chopstick ‘wands’ for a six-year-

old’s birthday party?

And yet, when my daughter

Matilda requested a Harry Potter-

themed bash, i found myself

slipping down a rabbit hole of

extreme party planning.

Wh i c h i s h o w i e n d e d u p

spending more than three hours

transforming brown paper bags

into themed party bags with the

help of some marker pens.

And it didn’t stop there. i

meticulously cut out and stuck

wings on 40 Ferrero Rocher

chocolates to turn them into

G o l d e n s n i t c h e s f r o m t h e

Quidditch game, then cut up

labels for bags of a wizard’s

favourite sweets, Bertie Bott’s

every Flavour Beans.

By the time i started to make

the broomsticks, my back was

aching and i was nearly in tears.

What was i thinking?

When most parents start to

organise their children’s birthday

parties, they wisely book a soft-

play centre, a magician, or take

them to laser Quest. i just wish i

could do the same — and i could

tell from my husband’s rolling

eyes when i presented my last

party plans that he felt the same.

i don’t think many of my fellow

parents are too impressed with

my over-the-top creations, either.

‘You do make the rest of us

look bad,’ said one friend, when

i asked her what she thought of

my ideas.

When my best friend, who had

only just thrown a Harry Potter

party for her daughter, heard i

had real owls, she bluntly told me

she hated me and that i always

have to go one better. i like to

think she was only joking.

As the mother of a nine-year-old

son and six-year-old daughter,

i’ve been to my fair share of

children’s birthday parties, and

i’ve found there are two camps of

parents — those who throw money

at the problem and are as hands-

off as possible, and those who

keep it fairly low-cost, but have to

put in a lot of work themselves.

Regardless of the amount of

effort the parents put in, the

guests always seem to enjoy the

parties. But the pressure often

comes afterwards, when other

children want something similar

for their own birthdays, and it is

increasingly hard for parents to

say no.

Then, of course, there’s the

amazing images on social media,

while Pinterest — a website that

allows users to save images to

virtual pinboards — is saturated

with extravagant and inventive

ideas that mothers feel inspired,

even compelled, to emulate.

But why do i spend more

hours than is sensible creating

something that will be over and

forgotten by the next day?

Birthday parties have always

been important to me. My mum

would always make mine and my

sister’s birthday cakes from

scratch, and it was usually an

ambitious and elaborate design.

F

oR me, it all started

with my son’s fourth

birthday, when i decided

to throw him a space-

themed party. i hired a local hall

and then set about designing

everything. obviously, there was

the rocket-shaped cake, along

with ‘moonstones’ for a hide-and-

seek game, which were pebbles

spray-painted silver and gold.

But my crowning glory was the

jet packs i made for each child,

which are still talked about by

many of my friends today.

it was easy, i reasoned to my

husband, Matt, who declared early

on that he was having no part in

th i s m a d n e s s. i j u s t

needed to spray-paint

a couple of two -litre

water bottles, attach

so m e t i s s u e p a p e r

f l a m e s , a n d t h e n u s e

silver ribbon to style them

into backpacks.

Ho w e v e r, i q u i c k l y

learned that what looks

simple online, and might

be quite cute to make for

one or two children, quickly

becomes a huge project

when you have to make 15

of them.

i had to collect 30 water bottles

and spray-paint them in the

garden, which left me feeling dizzy

from the fumes and ruined our

picnic table. i cut out strips of red

and orange tissue paper for flames

to tape on, and then co-opted my

father-in-law David to help me

attach silver ribbon, so the kids

could wear them on their backs.

While David and i sat at the

kitchen table for four hours

assembling them, Matt went to

the pub in protest.

But the kids loved them and the

parents were equally impressed.

one mum told me she was often

asked where she got the jet pack

from and raved about the party.

But i know my obsession with

the perfect party doesn’t go down

that well with everyone.

‘i think you’re lucky you’ve got

all this spare time to spend on

these crafts,’ said one mum after

the Harry Potter party, through

slightly gritted teeth. i know

she’s right. i work part-time from

home, so i do have more time

than most parents.

But all my hard work was worth

it when i heard the screams of

excitement as our party guests

raced through the ‘brick’ wall to

Platform 9¾ into our house, where

they discovered the ghost of

Moaning Myrtle in the toilet —

really a cardboard cut-out.

i have to admit, i was lucky to

get live owls at the party as it was

a favour from a local mum who

k e e p s t h e m a s p e t s , b u t i t

certainly added the wow-factor.

However, after all the back-

breaking work for this party, i

think i’m going to give myself a

break for the next one and take

the kids out for pizza with a few

friends. Unless Pinterest comes

up with something a bit more

interesting, of course.

Wizardry: Debbie’s

daughter Matilda at her

Harry Potter-themed party

Picture: debbi Marco

What do you mean you didn’t have

a live Harry Potter owl at yours?

Perfect parties

make the other

mums hate me

by Debbi

Marco

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