When you're busy it's hard to throw your kids an excellent birthday party without feeling exhausted. There is so much effort required it almost feels as hard as planning a wedding. Unfortunately it's one of those things you have to do because you want your little ones to be happy. The trick is to find ways to take a lot of the pressure off. Over the years I've had lots of experience with my two kids, so I'd like to incorporate some of the things I done this time to make sure I wasn't overworked.

I'm going to assume you'll have lots of little ones running around if your child invites all of their friends. That means you will have a lot of entertaining to do at the same time as keeping a watchful eye on everyone. If you hire an entertainer it will take away one of those responsibilities, at least for a couple of hours when the kids are watching a magic act or puppet show.

You need to call in the cavalry because of what we've just talked about. Trying to keep your eye on too many kids will put a strain on you. It's meant to be a day you can enjoy with your child, so you don't want to spend it worried someone will get hurt. Some moms ask a few of their friends to help out at a party, but make sure there are more than you'll think you need. It shouldn't be too hard if you ask the other moms well in advance.

When was the last time you tried cooking for a party of people? It's certainly not easy if you're already busy in other areas of your life, so I'm thankful Toronto has Parts & Labour Catering to help me out. You should find a good catering company if you want to save yourself hours and hours of slaving away in the kitchen. They'll be able to provide you with a selection of treats the kids will love.

You'll know when the birthday parties you throw are coming up, so it doesn't make sense to wait until the last minute to start planning everything. I've tried it before and it doesn't work, especially if you're trying to book something or someone. In an ideal world you would begin planning a party a few months beforehand, even if it's just writing things down in a notebook. Do one or two things every so often and you'll have an easy last few weeks.

My final birthday hack involves throwing a joint party, because my oldest child was born around the same time as her cousin. They're the same age and in the same class at school, but I'm sure you could do this if the kids weren't related too. It's nice sharing the work load with another mom, but it's not the nicest part. Birthday parties can be expensive and if you're able to save money by teaming up it will lift a lot of weight off your shoulders if you don't have lots of money.