Parent peace of mind was our third casualty. When your child gets a driver’s license, your peace of mind vanishes instantaneously until he or she proves to be responsible behind wheel. Not only does your automobile insurance skyrocket, but your anxiety does too. My older son let us off easy; he didn’t get his driver’s license until he was seventeen. (Statistically, older teens are less likely to die in fatal car crashes than younger ones). My 16-year old daughter gives me fits. She says all right things. (“Dad, I’ll not take more than one other friend in car” – our state restricts number of passengers younger teens can carry to limit distractions – but caves in to peer pressure.) We take away her driving privileges when she does something dangerous, which is a pain to have to drive her around again. I told her I’d rather she hate me for rest of her life than I have to bury her! Continue parenting to keep them safe, but not so tightly that they don’t learn responsibility and earn your trust.

Your heart expands as your child matures. You have to pull back, let him or her try things and learn from successes and failures. You can’t teach them vicariously; they have to learn it for themselves. Holding onto them too tightly causes them to push you away even harder, so why fight it. Let your relationship begin to blossom, and look at them as about to be minted adults and let your relationship begin to change.

Copyright 2005, Fruition Coaching. All rights reserved.

“Rescue Injured Soldier” Divide up soldiers into two teams. Provide each team with a gurney (tarp or beach towel) and a roll of toilet paper. One person on team will be “Injured Soldier” and should be positioned about 40 yards from his teammates. When you say, “Go” team runs across yard to their injured soldier. They first wrap up injured soldier in toilet paper, then transfer him to gurney and finally transport him back to their starting position (I would suggest having one child hold a corner). This game is guaranteed to be loads of fun!

“Mine Field” Start out by placing a bunch of water balloons in yard and blindfolding each soldier. Have them try and walk across minefield without breaking any balloons.

“Grenade Toss” Before party, construct some bean bags out of camo fabric and fill them up with rice. You could also purchase beanbags at your local party or fabric store. Place to cement blocks about 3 feet apart and place board on them. Next, setup of different types and sizes of pop bottles for targets. Give soldiers beanbags and let them take aim. Try different distances to increase difficulty.

“Water Grenade War” Begin by constructing two barricades for children to hide behind (these can be made out of cardboard and spray painted for effect). Give kids balloons and watch fun unfold before your eyes. Just remember, you can’t have too many grenades!

“Obstacle Course” I would suggest placing this game last in your order of Birthday Party Games. This will be most challenging and exciting. Here are few ideas on different obstacles you could incorporate into your Ultimate Course. Use a board as a plank to run across a water obstacle or between to cement blocks. Get some tires for soldiers to step or run through. Use 5 gallon buckets with poles taped across for soldiers to crawl under. Make some obstacles soldiers can run and weave around, such as, garbage cans or buckets. Throw in some physical exercises like jumping jacks and pushups. While soldiers are running through obstacle, make sure you are acting just like a Drill Sergeant. There should be lots of yelling and encouragement. You could also be shooting a water gun at them or throwing water grenades. This should be Ultimate game, so take your time designing course and have fun!

Don't forget to check out Ultimate Kid Birthday Parties website and submit your Kid Birthday Party ideas for a chance to win over $500 worth of prizes. The Grand Prize is a Sony Cybershot DSC-P93 Camera. Don't forget, because contest ends 31 May 2005. Good Luck!!!