Parties for children have come a long way in the last decade with more options, more expense and more expectation placed on an annual event that runs approx. 2-3 hours. Being involved in the kids party industry for 15 years, I’ve seen every type of party from the informal backyard gathering to a veritable carnival with a great variety of entertainment hired.

But don’t be daunted! A children’s party doesn’t need an event planner or a big budget to be successful. Here are some sure-fire pointers to get the party started and the kids really enjoying themselves.

1. Stick with the familiar. Kids feel comfortable when predictable elements appear, and if they are overlooked, it won’t go unnoticed! Definites are: Food, birthday cake, and the all important Party Bag! If you have at least these three things, you’ve got a party.

2. What games to provide. There are innumerable options: Party games; hire an entertainer or activity or have it somewhere that will entertain the kids for you. The Golden Rule is: DON’T OVER-DO IT!

One or two structured games are more than enough. Remember, children are already being directed to eat now, cut the cake now, watch the gifts being opened now, etc etc.. When you throw in entertainers, activities and games, children may quickly become overwhelmed, and time whizzes by without the children having the chance to actually play with abandonment.

3. Play time: This element should be the number one party essential. Time for the kids to run about, play, talk and laugh with one another is golden. It suits children of all ages and capabilities, and -, it’s free!

4. Age-appropriate entertainment. This idea may seem like a no-brainer, but I have attended many parties that result in children being bored or bewildered. For example, hiring a magician-clown for two-year olds left most of the children terrified. Another example is a bowling party for four-year olds. The children had no interest in being competitive and after a few bowls, the novelty had absolutely worn off. Even Pass-the-Parcel can cause distress when played with children who are too young to realise they haven’t missed out, they just have to wait their turn. If you are holding a party with mixed ages and genders, there is a broad range of entertainment that appeals, such as face-painting and balloon-twisting.

5. Relax! When planning your party, plan with your child and use your instincts – you know what they will enjoy most. On the day have a mini run-list so that you don’t forget anything, like when to put the party pies in the oven or to hand out the party bags.

Then, enjoy YOURSELF too…after all -it’s a party!

Best of luck!

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“I thought I was in a pretty good marriage with occasional arguments until my wife said to me “If the next year of our marriage is as bad as the last year, I’m outta here”.

She felt as if she was always walking on eggshells so as not to set me off. Any time she disagreed with me, I immediately went on the attack and tried to defeat her point of view by almost any means. So when she told me she had taken all she could stand, I took her seriously and decided that I had to do some frank soul searching to find out why I kept losing my temper, so I could not lose the person who meant the most to me in the world”.

As I looked back many of my habitual ways of dealing with the world were driven by anger. I was an aggressive driver, using my horn and my “freeway finger” whenever people weren’t travelling the way I thought they should be. If the mechanic told me something needed fixing on my car, I was sure he was exaggerating for his own financial gain. I thought I had an unusual ability to see through a hypocrite, and since I thought that most people were, I got a lot of practice of seeing through them.”

This is one story of a man who came to me for help in dealing with his anger problem.

As a Psychologist, I’ve seen many of my clients lose their jobs, wives and opportunities because they were simply not able to handle the normal frustrations and disappointments in life.
They argue, they insult and they sulk.

They come to see themselves as ineffective, unlucky, of just plain losers. They don’t admit this to anyone, but deep inside they don’t like themselves. Their anger gets in the way of their ability to be good bosses, good workers and good family men.

For many men who have been charged with serious crimes, such as assault and murder, it is clear that these are not pre-meditated. These men didn’t start out with the intention of hurting others.

They reacted impulsively, and often out of anger. Someone insulted them and they struck back. Situations they could have walked away from became major confrontations because they did not know how to handle themselves other than aggressively. They know their behaviour is stupid and they don’t know why they did what they did.

Domestic violence programs are over run. Our prisons are overcrowded and even our schools are not altogether safe. But men who are angry do have a choice. No-one can change the whole world, but there are many things you can change about the way you see yourself, others and the world, and come to understand what triggers your anger along with learning what other actions you can take to keep yourself and others safe. Your marriage, your job and your happiness depend on it.

Individualised anger management counselling is run by the Hart Centre Australia. We have qualified Psychologists in 60 locations around Australia who can help you become the man you want to be. Phone 1300830552 for more information on Anger management counselling and anger management courses.

OJ Pippin Homes builds affordable quality homes throughout Brisbane and South East Queensland. Our company strives to give our clients a stress free building experience, whether it is to live in or to invest.

With over 100 superb design and floor plan options to choose from we can help you find a house to suit a specific block, location or site and most importantly to suit your budget and requirements.

If you also require land, our Sales consultants are ex-land sales and real estate agents so they know the whole building and land acquisitions process back to front, so they can act as a buyer’s agent to help you source land if you don’t have your own.

OJ Pippin Homes have currently sourced great value land for House & Land Packages throughout Brisbane, Gold coast and the Sunshine coast.

All packages are complete ‘FULL TURN KEY’ packages which means we take care of everything for you from full landscaping and paths to window furnishings and floor coverings. Simply move in and enjoy your new home.

Our aim is to have you enjoy success whether it is for investment purposes or your own home at the lowest possible cost while maximising your future financial position. Any investment, whether rental property or owner-occupier, requires careful consideration as it is one of the major decisions an individual will make. OJ Pippin is committed to providing you with your property within 12 weeks of council approval and a continued relationship to ensure that everything remains to your satisfaction.

For investment packages, we have expanded our operations to include our own ‘in-house’ marketing division – not only do we build it, but we can rent it for you and arrange the property management post completion. In addition we can point you in the right direction to maximise your returns such as steering you via a qualified quantity surveyor to provide you with a depreciation schedule to take advantage of the taxation benefits that are available through the ATO.

From our strong customer focus and through direct honest contact OJ Pippin Homes is often involved in a number of repeat projects with our owner-occupiers and investment clients.

If you’re looking for a Brisbane Home Builder, House & Land package or more information on this Brisbane builder call 1800 OJ HOME (1800 654 663) If you’re Building today, Go the OJ Way!

Over the last few years I have noticed a huge increase in the number of clients coming to see me for pornography addiction. With the easy access of porn on line, and on tablets and phones, many men are having trouble resisting the urge to view porn more and more often, and it can be scary how quickly this can turn to an addiction.

Some of the key elements in the development of a porn addiction are starting to watch porn at a young age, controlling or uninvolved parents, loneliness and isolation, seeing a model of unhealthy relationships and early sexual abuse.

Once you have realized that you are addicted, your path to freedom starts with the realization that you’ve lost control around sex. You begin to acknowledge that you’re acting regressively and that you are probably a mature man in many ways, but you don’t understand intimacy and have confused intimacy with sexual activity.

Another thing that can be a he realisation is that you can’t get enough of what won’t satisfy you. Objectifying and sexualizing people is an never ending, negative process that yields a few minutes of excitement, a brief orgasm, then hours, days, weeks, months and years of fear, pain, shame, self doubt, self criticism, judgement and anger.

Doing this work will free you from the shackles of your negative sexual story.

Many men who have done so look back and see this as their rite of passage into true manhood, free of old compulsive sexuality. You can then take the energy you are expending on addictive behavior and channel it into a more satisfying career, intimacy and better relationships with a partner and with your family and friends. You’ll really get a life in the full sense.

Counselling for Porn addiction with qualified and experience Psychologists is available in 60 locations Australia wide at the Hart Centre. Call 1300 830 552 to find out more.