Parents can always make their child’s birthday party as learning and training ground for the child

Learn your child's disciple through his/her birthday party. (Photo:Courtesy)

By ROZIE JUMA

If you want to know how disciplined a child is, take them to a birthday party. In fact, such a party is one of the best places to teach your child how to behave with decorum. So, how do you handle your child’s party?

• Invites: Not every child in her class needs to be invited; too many guests will spoil the bash. Be sensitive to the other children’s feelings though. Thus, do not give the invites in the school bus or at the playground in school.  Simply make a phone call or hand-deliver the cards to the invitees’ homes. Talk to your child about discretion.

• RSVPs: If any parent does not respond to your invitation, call them to clarify time and date of party and give proper directions to the venue if they are dropping their children.

• Hosting: As the parent hosting, teach your child how to be gracious to other children and ensure they enjoy the day. It could even be a good idea if you made the child in charge of welcoming the guests and distributing the goody bags. 

• Toys: As the hosting parent, alert your child to the fact that there will be guests who may want to play with his or her toys. If you have some special toys, and your child is the problematic type when it comes to sharing, keep them away on that day.

• Gifts: Do not open gifts while the party is still on; wait and do so once everyone has left. Children can embarrass you, especially if they receive a gift they don’t like. You don’t want them screaming how ugly the doll is in front of the giver. If you, however, wish to open the gifts during the party, let your child know the value of a gift in advance, and how to say ‘thank you’, even if they don’t like a gift. Turn the gift giving session into a sort of game, so that all the children enjoy it, and the recipient is too carried away with the fun to worry about ‘bad’ gifts.

• Extra treats: There is always a chance of receiving uninvited guests. As such, always have some extra treats.

• Thank-you notes: This is the best opportunity to teach your child how to say ‘thank you’. Make them write notes to thank the guests. The child could even hand-deliver the notes if the guests are neighbors. This way, they learn the art of gratitude, and also how to write.