TO THEME OR NO TO THEME?

The first birthday party is undoubtedly more special to you than to your baby. In fact, your 12-month-old will probably view the celebration as an unnecessary interruption of playtime. So the key to creating a wonderful event is to make it memorable - for you!

Everything - from food to decorations - should be kept as simple as possible. Your job is to take footage and marvel at how your baby's becoming a toddler - not to be running around the kitchen washing dishes.

While keeping things simple for this first birthday, don't forget to limit the number of guests. A guest list of 10 may be overwhelming to your guest of honour. Your best bet is to invite only close friends and family.

Themes are often a great way to structure a birthday party. However, although themes can help you plan decorations, invitations and food, any activities or games should be kept to a minimum. A one-year-old simply doesn't have the attention span or skills needed to participate in the fun. Don't forget you will have your hands full entertaining guests while trying to monitor your birthday babe!

Your baby is turning one. This is the most momentous birthday ever, short of 100. But beware: parents often make the mistake of taking a great theme like Winnie the Pooh, and turning it into Pooh Bear birthday overload. Keep the celebration short - many babies simply can't handle the sensory overload. Limit your party to two hours or risk birthday-baby meltdown. NOV 2008

POSH PARTIES COST PARENTS £1.25 BILLION !!!

A new report reveals parents definitely are posh enough to party, forking out over £1.25billion a year on their kid's birthday parties. The report by Virgin Credit Card reveals that over half of UK parents are suffering from "Posh Party Syndrome", admitting that they feel under pressure to compete with other parents.

Whilst the average birthday party now costs £182 (excluding presents and venue hire), parents will have trouble keeping up with the Beckhams, who reportedly spent a whopping £10,000 on Brooklyn’s first birthday celebrations.It seems a classy venue is also vital as nearly three quarters of parents splash out and hire a venue for their kid’s parties incurring even further birthday costs.

The ‘Posh Party’ report also reveals:

Despite the £1.25billion annual birthday party bill, over 1.5million children under 12 in the UK have not had a birthday party in the last three years. London parents spend more than any other region, forking out an average of £221 per party. Parents in Northern Ireland throw the biggest bashes, with one in five throwing their doors open to over 25 kids, whilst the average across the country is 12. Bouncy castles are still top of the list when it comes to hiring in entertainment with 42% of parents reporting having hired one in the last three years. OCTOBER 2008

 WHY BOYS LIKE BLUE & GIRLS PREFER PINK!

We all know that women like pink and men prefer blue, but we have never really known why.  Now it emerges that parents who dress their boys in blue and girls in pink may not just be following tradition but some deep-seated evolutionary instinct.

Researchers have found that there could be sound historical reasons why women have developed a heightened appreciation of reds and pinks, while men are drawn to blue. “The explanation might date back to humans’ hunter-gatherer days, when women were the primary gatherers and would have benefited from an ability to home in on ripe, red fruits,” Anya Hurlbert, who led the team of researchers, said. “Culture may exploit and compound this natural female preference.” While blue was liked universally, this preference stood out among men as it was not balanced by a parallel liking for pink, the study found. This, too, could have deep-seated natural roots: water that appears blue is more likely to be clean, and the colour is also an indicator of fine weather.

The scientists from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, who were led by Dr Hurlbert and Yazhu Ling, averaged people’s overall preferences. The male favourite was a pale blue while the female favourite was a lilac shade of pink. SEPTEMBER 2008 

NEW FOR 2008

Look out in 2007 for lots of exciting new products - Party Decorations, Lovely Gifts, Personalised Hand Painted pottery, Games & Unique Items Exclusive to Shower My Baby. AUGUST 2008