At some point during my Party planning I came to looking at party bags.  Now, when I was a kid these party bags were basically bags of crap with a slice of birthday cake, my how things have changed!

Now they seem to be another thing that as parents we are measured by.  It is all about party bag snobbery and keeping up with the Jones' nowadays.

As this is my first attempt at organising a birthday party for my soon to be 6 year old son I did a bit of research on various parenting forums and the like to find out how go about it all.  This is when I came across a party bag thread discussing what people are putting in them, and I discovered a whole new world of rivalry.

Prior to reading this particular thread my idea was along the lines of a Power Ranger loot bag containing a balloon, a piece or birthday cake, a small bag of Haribos and a small cheap plastic toy of some sort.  Like I said, earlier a bag of crap with a slice of birthday cake.  After reading this thread it is clear I am going to have to buck my ideas up!

Some people actually put books in them, now surely that is going a bit far isn't it?

Realising the inadequacy of what I had planned I got searching on ebay for ideas.  Firstly a loot bag was no good at all, no it had to be a party box a la happy meal but a bit smaller.  These are slightly more expensive but hey think of the kudos points!  I have bought plain ones that I am going to print Power Ranger labels to stick on.

Then there is the contents.  So far I have:

• Power Ranger sticker
• Small tub of playdoh
• A rocket balloon
• A cupcake

I am also planning on buying bouncy balls and Haribos to put in them.  The Haribos might not make it though as I might eat those myself!  I should explain that the tubs of playdoh were bought for christmas but both my husband and I bought the same thing so this is bit of a cheat really.  The cupcake is because I have looked at getting a birthday cake big enough to feed 30 kids and they wanted £70 so we are going to buy a small cake and put cupcakes in the party boxes.

As yet I have not actually added up how much this has cost as I think it would freak me out, however I have been totally sucked into party bag or in my case party box snobbery and for some weird reason that I don't fully understand, determined to impress my sons peers parents.  It would also be good for my son to be the cool kid for one day!

I do not know why I feel the need to ensure his boxes are the best boxes that his friends have ever seen but I have shown some constraint - there are no books!