We just finished hosting DS' 5 year old birthday party at home. Gosh. I felt like I got beaten by a thousand sticks. It was picture perfect but so hard. Some things I have learned:

- Apparently there is an option to order your helium balloons online (or in person) and you can pick it up at Party City on the day of your party. That would have saved us a ton of hassle - the day of our party was the day of superbowl and our city (Atlanta) was in the finals. Everyone was buying balloons and the store was like a zoo. I got yelled at by the sales lady and DH was upset at me for lack of planning.

- The punch pinata took 3 days to make. But it was worthwhile and it was quite popular.

- It was an afternoon after lunch party. I posted my "menu" here before and most people told me it is not enough food. It was WAY too much food. As I predicted, no one except one close friend actually ate because she didn't eat lunch. lol. I threw a massive amount of food away

- Serving blood orange mimosa was a good choice. I would have gotten away with that with maybe a hummus veggie platter lol

- I was almost not going to do a "popcorn + goldfish" thing, but I did it anyway because I heard one of the kids do not eat anything other than goldfish. Strangely everyone was munching on the popcorn + goldfish.

- I spent time making these cute bear face open faced sandwiches with sunbutter, banana and blueberries. You know, the type you found on pinterest. None of the kids want anything to do with them. They all went to trash.

- I will not do a home party again. If I were to do one, I would hire a professional entertainer (so I don't need to be the one entertaining the kids) and someone to clean the house prior to the party (I don't have a cleaning service). But if I were to do all that, I might as well go to a party place.

- Remember to take pictures or ask a friend to take pictures. DH and I were so busy I didn't take even a pic of the cake and my DS Luckily my friend took a pic and a video

Any other tips from you?