Yup, 90% of the parties at our former, beloved daycare were at one of 2 playgrounds closest to school. It never stopped being a hit and was perfectly low-stress. You can set a rain date if the weather is truly awful, but unless there’s a hurricane October is usually doable in the northeast.
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Pro tip: unless you want an avalanche of random shit, add “no gifts please” to the invitation. Birthday party influx of things was manageable and curate-able until the daycare friends party.
The next party we went to my friend specified no gifts and I was like:
With much regret and envy that I hadn’t thought of such a thing.
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Hot choco bar is such a good idea! Thank yooouuu.
Okay I’m excited now. This is much more my speed.
Meanwhile my closest mom friend is talking about how she’s already planning her son’s goodie bags and absolutely fucking not my friends. I will NOT.
I don’t want toys at all unless they add to sets or are a book. But that’s a recipe for getting the same books.
Okay what if no one comes and my kid internalizes that he has no friends or something when it’s just that his parents are bad planners.
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+1 to local park, though I cannot speak to weather considerations.
We go to all the birthday parties from daycare friends, unless we’re sick or (rarely) have other plans. I mean - my kid gets to go play with his friends, outside, and someone else is handling snacks. What is there not to love about this?
Our daycare invites have pretty much universally said “no gifts” so I don’t even have to go through that much effort.
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Yeah good point! I am shockingly making too big a deal about this (not like it’s on brand or anything.) At least we can have fun together worst comes to worst. Kids gonna get cake and hot cocoa at a playground with his parents and relatives. He’s gonna be fine.
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We only go to cousin B-day parties and there are always the goodie bags at the end and I hate them. But last party the mom was fancy and gave each kid a single, professional (prob from fb marketplace) themed decorated cookie, and I could handle that much loot bag.
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Same! And personally I love when they specifically dictate that siblings are welcome - then we don’t have to all split up for the day. We also hate goodie bags. No plastic trash or dollar store candy for my 2 & 4 yo please.
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Park reservation submitted - here’s to hoping! TY for the advice all!
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Any ideas for rain boots/shoes with grip that even might stay on an active climbing running splashing toddler (15 mo).
We have been barefoot all summer, and before that in no grip moccasins. Which were fine except now playground equipment is in play.
We have used bogs a size up for November on (hopefully the feet grow) but they seem too warm/too $50 for two months.
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Best I’ve found for grip plus monkey clamber are Bogs.
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Do you do insulated or not? The non winter ones are only on the official website and $75 
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And insulated seems too warm for fall
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We’ve only had the insulated ones, but I’ve been eyeing non insulated (less insulated?) on Amazon that keep dropping price to about $30 every time the stock goes low. But with the Canada issue maybe that’s not an option there
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102+ shipping on the non insulated Amazon ones. Which means they are in the US.
Maybe I do $20 grippy soled socks but two pairs to swap out on wet days
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For shoulder seasons at forest school etc we’ve used water proof low shoes like ten Littles and these:
Kimi + Kai Boys First Walker… Amazon.com
Intermixed with regular rain boots (tree grandpa on Amazon) when she’s not hiking etc.
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I just got these Merrell shoes for $35. We used the summer / water shoes version this summer and they’ve been great. We haven’t worn this version yet. The soles are wide and grippy, though noticeably stiffer than moccasin style shoes. Also, they’re a waterproof fabric rather than rubber so I would trust them for a rainy playground but not for puddle stomping.
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Oooh yes we had a pair of these! I forgot. They were a little hard to get on her (fat feet lol) but they worked well for one winter we did.
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Related wuestion… is there a product that can slow down removal of velcro low/mid shoes 
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Not a miracle, just making it like a 30second effort instead of a 5 second problem
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I have no answer, I just want to send solidarity. When both my kids were toddlers they always took their shoes off in the car and it made me, like, incandescent with rage. I hope someone has a tip!
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Avoidance? I don’t put on the shoes until arrival, and if she takes them off I trained her early to at least bring them to me 
but luckily we don’t have many areas where shoes are a safety Must beyond temperature and that’s it’s own feedback lol.
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My kids are much older than yours, but we found a pair of stride rites at an outlet store when J2 was about 18 months. I think those were my favourite shoes for the kids.
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