WFMW: Collective Birthday Parties

Today's tip: Collective Birthday Parties

I have two Girlfriends from college that live within driving distance of me, and we have 6 kids between us. We love to celebrate birthdays. But, 6 birthday parties throughout the year, when we live 45-minutes to an hour and half away, is a bit much for our busy schedules (not to mention expensive).

So, we started having ONE birthday party a year, where us 3 girls and the kids get together to celebrate ALL our kids' birthdays at one time. We usually do it in the spring as that's when the majority of actual birthdays are. We draw names to buy gifts, and each kid gets ONE gift.

Why this works for us:

• One party instead of six to fit into our crazy schedules
• Our kids (and us girls!) get to spend quality time with each other without a bunch of other people and kids around (we all still have the normal kid birthday parties for families and friends)
• Less expensive - we all pitch in - 1 person brings the cake, one is in charge of dinner, one brings snacks, etc.
• 1 present per kid - the kids don't get a whole lot of stuff they don't need
• We rotate between our houses and sometimes try to do a fun activity around it...my kids still rave about going to C's house near Baltimore last year and walking around the Inner Harbor. They love a road trip.

Slightly off the topic, but this certain group of Girlfriends all turn 40 in 2010, so we are contemplating a collective girls only trip to celebrate our 40ths. This will definitely not involve kids!

See more tips We Are That Family and Happy Wednesday!

P.S. HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY HUNTER!