06/05/2026
One thing I have learned after doing birthday parties, schools, park districts, libraries, churches, company picnics, and festivals all year long is that kids are not all the same.
That sounds obvious, but when you're the guy standing there with the balloons, you see it really fast.
It is almost like a bell curve.
On one end, you have the child who walks up and is unbelievably polite. They wait their turn, say please, thank you, and you can almost tell a parent has been working with them at home.
Then you have the other end of the bell curve.
The child who grabs before I am done making the balloon. The child who interrupts every kid in front of them. The child who asks for another balloon before the first one is even in their hand.
But most kids are not on either end.
Most kids are somewhere in the middle.
They are not perfect.
They are not terrible.
They are just kids.
They are excited because there is cake, music, cousins, a bounce house, a room full of noise, and a balloon-dude standing there making something they want. That is a lot for a little kid to handle.
So when people ask me about kids’ behavior at parties, my answer is usually pretty simple.
Most kids are good kids.
Some need a reminder. Some need a little patience or an adult to slow the moment down before the whole thing turns into chaos.
But most of them are not trying to be difficult.
They are just having fun.
The behind-the-scenes part of my job is knowing the difference between a child being rude, excited, or the child who is about three seconds away from taking the whole room in the wrong direction.
