Chris Molnar's column
Think Safety When Hosting A Child's Birthday Party

When you are preparing for any child's birthday there is a lot of excitement in the atmosphere. It is good to be excited about a birthday. However, it is also important to keep safety in mind when you are hosting a party. The following is a list of a few things you should consider when hosting a birthday party.

Who Will Be At This Party?

When it comes to younger kids, friendships change rather frequently. In order to avoid conflicts and arguments during the party it is important to avoid inviting troubled friends. Sit down with your child and ask them who they want to invite to the party.

If you know of their typical friends ask about them specifically to make sure they are still on good terms. It is also important to run this process with the adults you expect to be at the party as well. I wish we could say that all adults know how to suppress feelings in front of kids, but unfortunately it's not true.

Hazards In The Home

When getting ready for the party, take a walkthrough of your home. Think about how many people will be walking through the party area and make decisions on things that could become safety hazards. Perhaps you a glass coffee table in the middle of your living room with sharp corners? That, and things such as ornaments and vases that you don't want to risk getting broken should be moved into a room that can be locked off during the party.

Consider throw rugs, extension cords and other materials that are tripping hazards, and determine how to arrange things to avoid potential injuries in the home.

If throwing a birthday with lots of theme party props, tape balloons, ribbons and streamers up high so kids can't get at them. I've known parties where it became lots of fun to pop balloons, and everybody began doing it - the party quickly went out of control. Luckily, nobody was hurt.

Parking Arrangements

Before your party takes place, go outside and plan your parking situation. If you will be having the children playing outside during the day, have the cars parked in front of your yard and block the end of your driveway. This will avoid kids running into the streets and add some security to your yard.

Also go to your neighbors and ask them for permission to have cars parked in front of their yards along the street to avoid having the police called to move the cars later. When parking on the street keep all your guests parked on one side, especially in narrow roadways. This will prevent complaints from people that cannot pass through safely.

Party Assistants

If you are going to have a large number of kids at the party, you will need help. Before the party takes place, contact friends and family to be assistants (not the parents of children who will be attending the party - those children may feel that they are more special if other parents are not around - the birthday boy or girl should be the special one!)

Ask them to volunteer to help watch over certain areas of the party throughout the day and rotate them during the day to make sure that all areas where the kids are playing has an adult watching over them.

The birthday party is a day of celebration and fun. It's also a day when people tend to put their guard down. And that's when things can go wrong. Be safe and have a happy birthday party!