This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 1334 how to organize a birthday party in American culture.
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Are you planning a birthday party in the US?
Today, find out how we organize birthday parties and get top tips to create an awesome experience and celebration for a friend or family member.
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Hey, Lindsay, how are you?
Hey, I'm doing great, Michelle.
Let's see.
I can't believe we're in late March already.
It's insane.
I can't either.
Yeah, I'm getting ready for a trip to Egypt coming up in April.
And we have a conference coming up at the end of March.
So lots of stuff going on.
We are busy.
We are.
We're busy.
Oh, wow.
Okay.
Awesome.
I know.
That's exciting.
Yeah.
Yes.
Have you been to any kids' birthday parties recently?
No, not really.
To be honest, I missed my niece's birthday party back in February, sadly.
And then, yeah, that's pretty much it.
I've only got one kid in my life.
Um, what about other birthday parties?
Have you been to any recently or have you planned any?
Not really, actually.
The most recent birthdays that i was at was uh were back back in like december january so yeah, no one's having birthdays.
When's your birthday, by the way, michelle?
Is it november?
At the end of december?
Yeah, december.
Okay, so you're also a capricorn, is that right?
Yeah, I'm a Capricorn.
Okay, very nice.
I'm a Leo, so...
I don't know what the, I'm not, are you into that stuff?
Do you know about this?
Kind of, a little bit, a little bit.
But yeah, maybe we can talk about that another day, another episode.
Yeah, I don't know the first thing about it.
I mean, I think it's interesting, but I don't know.
But that would be a fun topic.
For sure, for sure.
What about you?
Have you been to any birthday parties or your son?
I don't know.
Yeah, well, he turned one a few months ago.
And I so I planned like a little get together for him, mostly family.
So it was it was small.
It was in our apartment.
It was casual.
Yeah, just had some food there that we made and got from the store.
And But it was fun.
So yeah, I was very intrigued by this question from our listener, Lisa from California.
Lindsay, would you want to read the question for us?
Yeah, for sure.
Okay, here we go from Lisa.
So hi, girls.
I've been listening to this podcast for a year.
You guys are really amazing and very helpful, especially for my listening.
I have a question.
I'm currently living in California and I have an eight-year-old daughter.
I'm going to throw a birthday party for her, but I don't have any idea of a typical American birthday party.
Where do you usually throw a birthday party for your kid and what do I have to prepare?
Pinata and goodie bag?
I know there's no rule for throwing a party, but I want to know how to organize it.
Thank you, Lisa from California.
Ooh, and Lisa left this question in her review for our podcast.
Right, Michelle?
Yeah, that's right.
That's right.
Thank you so much.
I'm excited to talk about this today.
Yeah.
And I just want to remind you guys, leave us a review for our show, whether you're in the iOS app or whether you're in Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Let us know what you think about the show.
And you can also ask your question right in there because we do read those reviews.
Okay.
Yeah.
That's right.
That's right.
Thank you so much.
Yeah.
Well, I don't know if your daughter's birthday already passed.
So hopefully this is going to be helpful for you.
But either way, it should be helpful.
Definitely.
And congratulations on your daughter's birthday.
And that's so nice that you're going to throw a party.
Yeah, that's so cool.
That's so cool.
I mean, this is real kind of cultural information here.
Yeah yeah, for sure, interesting.
I mean lindsey, what were your birthday parties, like as a kid?
Yeah well, i like i said i'm a leo, so i'm a lucky summer birthday.
My birthday is august 3rd.
Um, i feel very lucky, because i do have a lot of friends that have like, winter birthdays and it's tough right, it's tougher um, so i feel lucky to have a summer birthday.
So i always had birthdays like at, you know, at the beach or at the park or the backyard barbecues, that kind of thing.
But There were other kids.
There were gifts.
There was always cake, balloons, gifts, games, pin the tail on the donkey, a pinata.
Oh, pin the tail on the donkey.
That's right.
All that stuff.
Yeah.
That's cool.
For me, I'm a winter baby, so it's always freezing on my birthday.
I'm sorry.
That's okay.
It was going to the movies, going bowling, all sorts of.
I don't think I ever did an ice skating birthday, but we could have done that.
You could have done that.
Did you do a bowling birthday, though?
I think so.
Yeah.
I mean, I did a lot of like house stuff, where I'd have a whole group of people and then a big sleepover.
And those were fun.
I would say that was a lot of my birthdays.
But I do.
I do remember doing movies.
I did for one birthday.
Do you remember the movie Spice World?
No, I don't remember that.
No.
Oh, it was the Spice Girls movie.
Oh, okay, okay.
So you had a party, like a theme-based party for that?
No, it was like we all went to see the movie and then we went to a restaurant.
Okay.
That's awesome.
Yeah, I mean, winter birthdays can be good, too.
So it's a lot about the seasons, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, so that's good to know.
I wonder what our listeners are going to end up planning for her kid here.
For sure.
I mean, so what can our listeners do?
I mean, a few ideas that I was thinking.
I mean, popular birthday parties may include... like a sports venue, like indoor or outdoor.
I mean, what else, Lindsay?
Yeah, a game center, really common.
I know last year, did she say how old her kid is?
I don't know if she said that.
I think eight.
Eight, eight.
Okay.
So Emery, my niece guys, you know my niece Emery.
She had her fourth birthday at the Bouncy House place, which was just like a huge facility in New Hampshire where kids can bounce around and adults too.
Actually, adults have a blast there.
You jump and you bounce super high and you can do flips and jumps and all kinds of fun things.
So something like that, some kind of a huge venue, they specialize in birthday parties. right?
For sure.
For sure.
Or like I said, bowling or a movie, right?
Yes.
Yes, for sure.
Even like a restaurant and going out for a restaurant, but that might be boring for a kid.
So I don't know.
Yeah, yeah.
And now it's really popular.
I know my niece, she likes Frozen.
Oh, yeah.
So she had Princess Elsa come and talk to all the girls.
Yeah, they did that.
Yeah.
My niece is just coming out of the Elsa phase, but she was heavy into it for a while.
Yeah.
Wait, how old is she now?
I guess.
So she just turned six.
I guess.
Just turned six.
Right.
Okay.
So yeah.
And my niece is three and a half.
Okay.
Yeah.
So that makes sense.
She was really excited around three, four, five.
Yeah, for sure.
But then she just dropped it.
Kids drop these things so quick.
It's so funny.
Yeah, for sure.
Or like, you know, having a magician come.
I think once my nephew had some sort of like scientist come and do all these like stuff with like rocket ships and whatever.
Oh, that sounds cool.
That sounds cool.
Yeah yeah um, or actually i mentioned i did, i almost forgot about this um, there was a place called cartoon cuts and a group of like this is i mean, maybe i was turning nine or something and it was in the mall and we went to cartoon cuts and it was like doing hair and all that stuff.
It was like very, very like.
Quote unquote girly sounds very girly.
Yeah, it was just funny.
I don't know.
I don't know why I did that.
But um, it was it was a really popular place.
And so it was fun.
And I think I have pictures of myself looking ridiculous.
Yeah, I love that.
I love that.
Okay, very cool.
So there are a lot of options.
It seems like Michelle right within the US in terms of what, what parents do, how they plan birthday parties for kids.
Yeah, a For sure.
I mean, it's been a while, but these are the things that I've heard of people doing or things I've been to.
But definitely, like, guys, we would love to hear what you guys do for birthday parties.
Not just kids, but like what's a typical birthday party?
Yeah.
Yeah, no, that's a really good question.
You know, thinking about what should we think about?
What does the person like?
Like, what are they really excited about?
Do they like sports?
Then maybe take them to a basketball game.
You know what I mean?
Actually, basketball.
I know you're really into basketball, Michelle.
Basketball games are really cheap because they play so many times.
Like we were thinking of grabbing some tickets for the Denver Nuggets next week because they're like a Tuesday night game is super cheap.
Like, you know, 20, 25 dollars.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
When you're planning for a party for someone, we have a lot of things you have to think about.
And this isn't just just kids necessarily.
Yeah.
You know, what do they like?
Right.
And also you've got to you've got to call around.
Right.
You have to ask places for estimates.
Right.
You can say like.
If it's going to be a restaurant, you can say, how much is it per person?
Or another bonus thing you can say is how much a head, right?
Oh, how much a head, right?
Not a head, but a head.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Space head.
Two words, guys.
Yeah, exactly.
Have you heard that, Lindsay?
I feel like I remember hearing that in Father of the Bride, but I don't hear it around that much.
Yeah, you know what?
I think we had the same experience.
That is where I learned that term as a kid in Father of the Bride because it was Franck, right?
Franck.
Yeah, and he said it was like Yeah.
250 ahead and he went crazy or something.
Do you remember?
Oh, that movie was on TV the other day.
Guys, a recommendation.
If you have not seen Father of the Bride, you must go back.
This is classic 90s entertainment.
And Steve Martin was fantastic in the 90s.
He was fantastic.
And Diane Keaton.
Awesome.
I know.
This movie gives me the warm and fuzzy.
You guys know how I feel about Friends.
Father of the Bride is my Friends for movies.
This is my favorite movie of all time.
It's so nice.
Both the first and the second one.
I feel like there's a lost art of movies that somewhere we left them in the 90s.
Like this kind of innocent nature to these movies.
Yeah.
Reflective kind of nostalgic nature to them that I don't think exists anymore in movies, because our movies are so fast paced now and they're so intense.
The technology, you know.
Yeah, yeah, that's true.
No.
Oh, my gosh.
Best movies.
Love them.
Yeah.
Um, so yeah, I don't know.
I heard Steve Martin saying ahead.
So but yeah, so I wanted to include it.
Um also, you got to create the guest list, of course, and mail out the invitations include RSVP, or a lot of people do just e-vites or whatever.
Yeah.
Yeah.
A lot of people do that.
Or even text message invites.
Keep it simple.
Just get the invite out there.
That's the most important thing.
And then decide on the food.
Are you going to have it catered?
Do you want to just order a bunch of pizzas and have them delivered to where you are?
Keep it simple.
Just make it happen.
That's the most important thing.
Definitely.
So that's a little bit about planning.
So in the future, you know we could go into more of the specific things that you would say if you're calling and asking.
Right.
Yeah, because that's important.
But today we wanted to do kind of an intro intro to the birthday party.
I love it.
I love it.
Yeah.
So what else, Michelle?
What else do we have to know?
Well, at the party, if it's a kid's party.
What do you think about goodie bags, lindsay?
Yeah, we used to do that.
I remember my mom used to put them together, for it's kind of strange, it's a weird concept.
Like these people have come to your party, they've brought you a gift and you're well, i guess you yeah, i guess it's like a you know you give them a little gift yeah, but it's still kind of weird.
So goodie bags are just little bags, little gift bags, little things that you put together for all your guests.
Yeah, it could be candy or little toys.
So definitely for our listeners, you know, you would want to maybe give goodie bags out.
Yeah.
Do they do this in weddings too sometimes?
I feel like they might.
No?
There's usually either like at the hotel, there's a bag for the guests who are staying at the hotel.
Yeah.
At weddings, there could be a wedding favor.
Okay.
So I don't know.
Okay.
Yeah.
Well, we can talk about that another.
Maybe it'd be cool to do like a series on wedding etiquette, like attending a wedding.
Right.
Because I'm actually going to a wedding in April and I haven't been to a wedding in a little while and I feel like I need to update my etiquette.
So maybe we'll do some episodes.
That would be awesome.
That would be fun.
Cool.
Yeah.
And I mean, Lindsay, what do you think?
Do you think it's good to open the gifts during the party or after?
Well, I feel like it's changed.
When I was a kid, we used to always open the gifts during.
The kids would sit in a circle and when their gift was up they'd kind of stand up, go over to the person and that kind of thing.
But as adults, I feel like it's less of a big deal.
So the gifts kind of just get placed on a table and it's more about socializing.
What do you think?
Yeah, I agree.
I don't know.
I think at kids' gifts, at kids' parties, they still open them there, I think.
Yeah, I don't know.
That could have changed.
I don't know.
Yeah, I need to pay attention the next one I go to.
Yeah, you got to get ready because this is all going to be happening for you.
Yeah, that's right.
That's true.
That's true.
But yeah, for adults, like I feel like most of the time it's done after.
Probably.
Yeah.
And then there's the old pinata, right?
Exactly.
Actually, not to think of it, at my son's birthday, we didn't open them until after.
So who knows?
Yeah, maybe when they're super young, it doesn't make sense because they can't learn.
Yeah, it's like, what is he going to do?
Yeah.
I feel like in my mind, the one-year-old birthday is just for stuffing cake in your face.
That's what kids do at the first birthday.
That's right.
That's right.
The smash cake.
Yep.
Yep.
That's awesome.
Um, so yeah, and you mentioned so the pinata.
So sometimes I mean, I don't did you ever do that on yours?
Did you said?
Yeah, I think so.
I think when I was really young, we used to do this.
This is not really something adults do.
But when I was a kid, for sure, we did it.
For sure.
Also, and then, of course, happy birthday and the cake.
Yeah, you got to have that.
I mean, you always want cake, right?
That's why I go to birthday parties and weddings.
That's awesome.
So, yeah, I hope that this helps us.
Some of this was catered.
Some of this was directed mostly about kids, but some of this can be for if you're throwing your friend a birthday party, your partner or whatever.
Yeah.
I mean, what should we leave our listeners with, Michelle, for a takeaway today?
What should they come away with to remember?
Yeah.
Well, guys, birthdays are so much fun.
Yeah.
They can be so expensive, though.
So you got to be sure to create a budget.
I am.
Oh, my gosh.
People spend so much money on this stuff.
And I'm hoping I can avoid it somehow by doing something else or being creative.
Who knows?
Yeah.
I mean, it's really, when you have kids, it's about getting them around other kids and helping them make friends, right.
It's not about so much.
But I guess it's hard for me to say that because I've never had a kid.
I don't know how hard it is to have them not be entertained.
Yeah, i don't know we'll, we'll see.
I'm not that i don't have to think about it yet but um, in a couple of years probably, yeah.
So guys yeah, even if you don't have kids, you know, take some of the takeaways today on what are the typical norms in our culture and if you are holding some kind of a birthday party here or in another english-speaking country, you can grab some of these ideas and check in with some of your friends.
Yeah, Cool.
Awesome.
Yeah.
So but it's a lot of fun.
You know, guys, come back and let us know what our birthdays like in your country, right?
For kids, especially like, what is it like?
Does it sound pretty similar?
Or is it different?
But this is a great kind of good cultural episode.
And we also had some good vocab.
So definitely get on our iOS app to get all those keywords.
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
And don't forget, there's going to be a web class coming up soon.
Right, Michelle?
And you and Jessica are going to tell our listeners, show them how to be funny in English.
That sounds so cool.
Yeah.
I'm excited.
I'll try my best.
I...
I like to think that I have a little bit of a funny part to myself.
So I will try.
For sure.
I mean, like we said before, you've done stand-up comedy.
You've done comedy writing even.
I mean, you've actually worked professionally within comedy.
So that is important to know, guys.
There's some real credibility there.
So guys, come join the web class.
Go to allearsenglishcom forward slash funny in order to sign up and get your spot soon, because spots will fill up for this one.
It's going to be a big one.
All right, cool.
Awesome.
Well, this has been so much fun.
Thanks, Lindsay.
And thanks to our listener for that question.
And thanks guys for listening.
All right.
Take care.
Bye, Michelle.
Bye.
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