As you may know, Stephen and Freddy’s birthdays are just 2 days apart. We typically celebrate their birthdays together. (so far they let me get away with this, in part because they have a lot of the same friends) We decided to have a bowling birthday party at the Brunswick Zone. I highly recommend it! My mom and I laughed at how things have changed, since I had my own bowling birthday party 20 plus years ago.
Twenty years ago, Mom reserved two bowling lanes, bought, wrote out and sent out the invitations, bought party favors on her own, suffered through 10 giggling girls trying to bowl in our lane, (we didn’t always succeed, as our neighboring bowler could attest). After bowling we went back to our house where mom then bought us pizza, and served cake and tried to sleep through, 10 girls giggling into the night.
Today, you pay a fee, you show up, and everything is done for you! Invitations that could be printed were emailed to us, along with thank you notes! We arrived early, but didn’t need to! The whole place was birthday parties, so it was full of kids and families! Not a beer bottle or cigarette in sight! (Well there was beer at the bar and the bar was open! Bonus!) At Brunswick we had our own “Party Hero” who coordinated everything: she led dances like limbo, macarena and the like, typed in kids names on the computerized score board, set up bumpers on the bowling lanes for kids who wanted bumpers (we didn’t even have those when I was a kid!) set out shoes and name tags, served pizza, and soda. Once the bowling got started, the lights were down low, colorful strobe lights danced to the rocking music, such as the Spice Girls, and Bon Jovi. All the party goers received a coupon for another free game. Our package also included “game tokens”, which today is a plastic debit type care preloaded with money for the kids to spend in the arcade.
I would say, I’d do this again if the boys want it or even for Theo,when he’s older. Things I wish I’d known, to bring glow necklaces for the kids to wear in the darkened bowling alley, how to work my camera in low light, and not to worry about anything. It was a fun time.
