My son's 3rd birthday party was today. Nevermind the fact that it was 4 days after the fact. When you are working parents and so are all your friends, birthdays never mean much until the party happens. Yes, we celebrate the day with a little cake and song, but the party occurs on a weekend whether it falls on one or not.

He had a bounce house... a dragon. One that, while he stood on the balcony at gramma & grampa's, rose to glory right in front of him. We planned it that way, my father-in-law and I. Side-effects were that my son didn't really want to play with the dragon, 'cause he didn't want to get eaten. That lasted until our friends got here and all the "big kids" (that would be the other dads and I) took over the dragon and just sat inside batting a couple of balls around to each other. Then he and the other kids came in full force and joined in the fun getting bonked by the flying projectiles... much fun to be had.

You want to make sure that your children have the best possible time and have the best memory possible of their birthdays. New parents don't kid yourselves... this time is for you, not them. Your kids won't remember. Just get lots of pictures and you're covered for the future eventuality that your kids will ask about their parties.