Parents' stress at planning children's birthday parties revealed

Having to navigate the politics of who to invite, catering to endless dietary demands, competing with other parents and the inevitable tantrums of hyped-up children are just some of the reasons why celebrating the birth of their offspring can be so trying.

Despite the party planning minefield, 62% of parents of children aged over five said seeing the joy on their child’s face on the day made it all worthwhile and 40% said they enjoyed the sense of achievement. 

The survey of 1,500 parents was commissioned by PizzaExpress to celebrate its Kids Pizza Making Parties.

It teamed up with Inbetweener’s star James Buckley and his wife Clair, who filmed a video exploring the dilemmas faced when planning birthday parties and features unfiltered and hilarious tales about when it all goes wrong.

The couple are a social media sensation, sharing frank confessions about modern parenting on their channel At Home with The Buckleys.

Nearly eight in 10 (78%) parents wished they could simply hand over the task to someone else, 47% dreaded the clean-up operation and 21% hated shopping for party bags.  Over a third (36%) were daunted by accommodating a myriad of food preferences and allergies and 32% feared the tears and arguments. A huge 74% said they found the whole process more stressful than going to work.

Broadening its Kids Pizza Making Party offering, PizzaExpress promises to take the stress out of children’s parties once and for all, covering everything from the invitations and entertainment, to the food and dietary requirements, and even the birthday cake and post-party clean up.

Jo Vaughton at PizzaExpress, said: “Planning for children’s parties is no party! It’s never quite as plain sailing as you expect it to be."

To simplify the party planning process, and relieve the stress, parents can head to the following link to book: Pizza Making Parties