It's not My Super Sweet 16, but it ain't just a backyard BBQ anymore.

E's birthday is in January. He's going to be 3 yrs old. It's August. And I have to start planning his birthday party. Every kid place is sending out emails and blasts telling me I better get on it or they'll all be booked. So, of course, as even a non-planner by nature, I've gotten in a panic. What to do...

Last year we did the Little Gym for his party. It was great- an hour and a half and they did EVERYTHING.  All I did was get a cake from Shop Rite (because I prefer their cakes), got some food from Costco for the adults, and made some goody-bags. They do an hour of play and a half hour to eat/do cake. They even got the pizza for the kids (and they'll order more for the adults if you like). You come five minutes before the party and leave when it's done. They do the set-up and the clean-up. The kids loved it, I had no mess in my house like I did for the 1st birthday, and it was over by naptime. But, I can't do the same party again, especially because I'm 99% sure I'm not signing back up there for classes. You can do a party as a non-member, but I'm over it right now.

Here's where I've been and what I think:

Kids U, Paramus: Not a huge fan. One, if you are by yourself & have more than one child and one of them is an infant and one is 16m-2.5 yrs you're kind of screwed. They start the party out in the main area where there is a HUGE climbing thing. Huge. My son is 2.5 & quite adventurous but he cannot do this jungle gym thing by himself. What does one do with their infant in this situation? Or if they can't climb for some medical reason? They do have a smaller toddler/baby area too but I don't see how a parent of two really little ones would be able to do it. Also, it's not enclosed with any kind of gate from where you put your shoes or where you go down the hall to the party rooms. If you have a runner of a kid, you're in trouble. My kid just took off in both directions whenever he had the chance. Lucky for me, I brought my Mother's Helper who is 11 yrs old, likes to climb, and is faster on foot than I am.

They move to an inner area that I do like. But, like anywhere, it depends on who (staff) is running the party. We went to one party and the guy who was running it, TJ, was really good with the kids. He was able to keep them interested, engaged, and the party had some structure. But, we went to a party a few months later, a different guy was running the party, and he seemed way more into getting attention from one of the female assistants than dealing with the kids or keeping any structure. They have a cool long trampoline thing that the kids really seem to like. E loves to jump so that was perfect for him. One parent could definitely handle two or more kids in there. It's a totally enclosed space where no one can get hurt.

http://www.kidsu.com/paramus.html

Bounce U, Paramus: I recently went to a party there for a 5 yr old. E has a decent amount of older friends. Well, that's who it's for- older kids. Like 5+. 2.5 is too young to do a lot of the bouncing without someone. That's fine if you're into bouncing with your kid, but if you're not, or you can't- again, if you don't know what the place is like you're in for a surprise.

It was fun for Ethan, mostly. But, again, I had to bring Sydney, my Mother's Helper. She bounced on everything with E. He ended up crying like three times because he fell or whatever. He's a tough kid but for his age, to me, it's just a recipe for disaster. I know lots of people love this place for a three year old on up, and maybe there is a big difference in the next six months, I don't know. But, I would not have a 3 yr old party there.

I will say that the staff are VERY consciencious. They moved from room to room three times before the pizza/cake room and a manager checked in with the party host in every room to ask how things were going and if they were happy with everything. I thought it was very professional. They also had workers at the bounce stations to make sure the kids were ok, following directions, being careful, etc.

http://www.bounceu.com/

In the Swing (Waldwick): E went to a 4 yr old's birthday party there in June. There were about 25 kids which was WAY too many in my opinion. If there were less kids it might have been ok, or if they were all the same age, that too may have made a difference. But, another one of those stupid climbing things and in this place, an adult can't even go in. If someone didn't go in with E, he wouldn't have been able to go in because he would have been trampled. Thank god for Sydney AGAIN. See a pattern here of needing another set of hands? And eyes, for that matter. Sydney went in with him and he was fine here and there and also ended up crying numerous times. Had I not had Sydney I would've had to turn around and go home. Wish these were things I knew beforehand. They should have this info on the invites. They give you invites from them or send them out for you with some info- they might want to include what will be going on there so you can plan accordingly for those who have never been there.

They do other stuff with the kids in an open area but I was not impressed and will not be doing any parties there, at least for the foreseeable future. Maybe it's better for older kids.

http://www.intheswing.biz/basic-parties.htm

I've never been to a party at My Gym (Glen Rock or anywhere else) http://www.my-gym.com/parties.aspx or Screaming Parties (Paramus)
http://www.screaminparties.com/paramus.asp but I've heard raves about both. I'm going to investigate My Gym because it's in town and Screaming Parties because I've been curious in general about it. I need a place where energy can be expended, it's minimal work for me, and the price is right. I will add other places I'm looking at as they come up.