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All In A Mom-day's Work by Lucie Bouchard Antoniazzi The sweetest 16 ever! Birthday parties with friends are not an annual thing in our home. With three kids and a one-income budget for many years, we couldn’t afford to have kiddy parties for each child every year. So we made our own tradition: each child got a super special party with friends (maximum 7) for their 10th birthday. Rudy and I figured that it was a big deal to attain the double-digit age, and it was worth some extra celebrating (and spending). Now it would seem that we are embarking on a new tradition: the grand celebration of the Sweet 16. Sabrina, our oldest, will turn 16 in March, and she has been planning her party for months! She’s been to several parties already this year (of course all her friends are turning 16, too!), and she seems determined to out-do all her friends with her bash. We had never really discussed having a party for her at 16, but she was so determined to convince us that she actually undertook the initial planning phase herself. She decided that she and a friend, who also has her birthday in March, would share the party, thus having the expenses split in two. Around October, they started making their guest list. Believe it or not, they have 82 names on their list! I don’t think I could even think of 82 people to invite to my birthday party. Of course, these teens are way more popular than their parents! Assuming that all these guests would attend and considering that they had to also include their parents (and siblings – sigh!), they rounded off their total to 90 people. The next step was to find a venue for the party. Obviously we couldn’t have that many people in our house, and an outdoor party in March is pretty much out of the question in our neck of the woods – we have snow here well into April. They called various restaurants and reception halls and asked about menus, prices, music, and so on. They were actually very well organized and quite entrepreneurial! When they had a few places in mind, they approached the parents… “Mom, Dad, you know how much I really want to have a Sweet 16 party, right?” “Right.” “Well, Vanessa and I would like to have our party together, and we called some places and got some prices. We were thinking that we could tell our guests not to bring presents but to pay a cover charge for the meal. Then you and Vanessa’s parents could split the cost of the DJ.” She smiled demurely at us. “How much is a DJ?” I asked. “Um…not sure yet. We need to find some DJs and get quotes.” “And who would pay for your cover charge, and ours?” Rudy asked. “Um…you?” Sabrina answered, batting thick lashes over those irresistible, puppy-dog eyes. And so the party preparations were set in motion. How could we say no? They were being mature and organized. They were taking on responsibility. They were trying to minimize our costs. We figured they deserved a go-ahead. The dads went along to visit some of the places the girls has selected, and we booked one, putting down a $50, non-refundable deposit. This was back in early December. Since then, the girls have been to five or six parties, three of which were at the place we had booked. They came back to us saying that the food was so-so and the dance floor was small and the soft drinks weren’t included in the price. So we reconsidered. Vanessa’s dad checked out a few other restaurants and found one that has a bigger dance floor and serves a meal perfect for teens: pizza, pasta, and panini (small Italian sandwiches) with unlimited soft drinks. We opted for that one and lost our deposit on the first place. This new place required a $400 deposit, so the girls are set – no more changes allowed. The girls got together last night to design their invitations: full 8 ½ X 11 inch sheets; full color; printed on my color printer and using my paper – all 82 of them. It’s a good thing they are minimizing our costs! They still have to hire a DJ. Apparently a good one, with good music and a light show, goes for $400 to $500 a night. Thank goodness we are splitting the costs in two! Of course, we will also have to get the special party outfit and the make-up and the hair-do…This is going to be one heck of a party! This might be costing us a small fortune, and setting a precedent for our second daughter and our son (do boys celebrate turning 16?), but at 16, Sabrina can get a weekend job. Then she’ll help pay the bills, right??
Lucie Bouchard Antoniazzi works from home as a technical writer for a Montreal consulting/training firm. She also likes to write children’s fiction and non-fiction when time permits, and she occasionally does Web design. Lucie lives with her husband, Rudy, and their three children in Laval, Quebec, Canada. Find out more about Lucie and her work by visiting her Web site at www.luciebouchardantoniazzi.com.
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