As the children were threatened by Milo’s presence in our life and what that would mean for them as such we tried to ensure that their birthdays would be celebrated I’m big style. Beyond what we would normally do.
For Caitlin this meant finding something she was physically capable of (which is hard at the moment as she is so burnt out all of the time she’s not even managing a full timetable at school) but that she’d be able to fully immerse into and enjoy herself. Add the complications of covid and things her friends would be capable of to the mix and it sure was interesting.
I struggled for ages thinking through all the indoor things but she’s getting to the age where restrictions either in age, or in height, are at play… unless it’s super active which she just cannot do. Then it occurred to me that The Little Big Town, a role play centre, wouldn’t be subject to the height restrictions necessarily and popped them a message to find out if they’d accommodate a party for some older children. She absolutely loves role play (and so do the friends and cousins she would have wanted to invite so it was a perfect choice).
They were quick in coming back to me and it was all arranged quite easily, with a “drop in at your leisure” to pay the deposit type arrangement. The party was a fixed priced and we arranged that some drinks and cake would be available for the adults and some squash and snacks for the kids.
I had explained that the majority of the children who were to be invited have a range of social, emotional and mental health needs so we needed it to be low key, and they couldn’t have been more accommodating. In fact, the atmosphere was so relaxed that all the children separated from their caregivers really easily and played so well and without incident for the entirety of the party.
The place was well laid out, on split level, with cafe up and play down. The play area is well laid out with a small section fenced off for the baby babies and then the rest divided into themed sections. Each themed section stocked with relevant toys to enable imaginations to easily be led into the role play for that area. With the range of themes being relevant to the workings of a town and the various areas that may be involved in it: farm, police, fire brigade, vets, grocers, builders and more.
Would highly recommend this place to anyone whether considering a private party or a public play session. The owners are genuinely interested in the children having fun. And the customer service and hospitality provided was outstanding.
** All children blanked out due to security concerns.
A Pleasant Chaos 