Why We'll Spend $350 on Our Kids But Not $50 on Ourselves

One of the interesting things about starting a business is that it makes you pay attention to people. Not just what they buy, but why they buy it. Lately, I've found myself thinking about something that seems a little backwards.

People, including me, will gladly spend $350 or more on a one day bounce house rental for their child. But we're having a much harder time convincing adults to spend less than $100 on yard games for themselves.

And honestly, I get it.

Last weekend, I rented a bounce house for my son's birthday party. Backyard Bash Co. doesn't offer inflatables, so I went through another teacher owned company. The kids loved it. They bounced on and off for hours. It was worth every penny because it created memories and made the party feel special.

But it got me thinking.

As parents, grandparents, step-parents, aunts, uncles and caregivers, we spend an incredible amount of time, money and energy making sure our kids have great experiences.

We sign them up for sports.

We drive them everywhere.

We buy the birthday decorations.

We plan the parties.

We organize the playdates.

We spend countless hours making memories for them.

And somewhere along the way, we stop doing the same for ourselves. Maybe that's why we've struggled a bit to market yard games to adults.

Adults see fun as a luxury. Kids see fun as a necessity.

And if we're being honest, most parents would rather spend money on their children than on themselves every single time. As I was planning my son's birthday, I started thinking about what parents actually want. Not necessarily more stuff. Not more clutter. Not another giant toy that ends up taking over the garage.

What parents really want is for their kids to have an amazing experience without creating an overwhelming amount of work for themselves. For my son's party, I set up an entire Nerf battle course.

We had barriers.

We had boundaries.

We had rules.

We had Nerf blasters.

We had mountains of foam darts.

It was awesome. The kids loved every second of it. But it was a lot of work. The planning, the setup, the organization and the clean up.

As I watched the kids running around laughing and having a blast, a thought crossed my mind. What if we could do this for other families? What if parents could simply enjoy the party instead of spending weeks planning every detail? That's when a new idea started forming.

While we're incredibly proud of our yard games, beach gear, tables, tents and everything we've built so far, we think there's room to offer something more.

Experiences. Experiences that create memories. Experiences that get kids moving, laughing and interacting with each other. Experiences that don't involve parents scrambling around trying to entertain twelve energetic children for 3 straight hours. Because let's face it.

Most of us are tired.

We're balancing work, families, activities, appointments, sports schedules, household responsibilities and about a thousand other things. Planning a birthday party on top of everything is a lot.

So we're exploring some exciting new ideas. Nerf battle parties, glow in the dark game nights with music and friendly competition, laser tag parties.

Interactive events that we can help set up, provide instructions for, breakdown and clean up so families can spend less time stressing and more time making memories.

It's still early. We're still planning. We're still figuring out exactly what it will look like.

But we're excited.

Backyard Bash Co. started as a yard game rental company. But it's growing into something bigger. A company focused on helping people gather, celebrate, connect and create experiences they'll remember long after the party is over.

So keep an eye on us. We've got some exciting things in the works. And if all goes according to plan, the next great Backyard Bash experience

might be coming to a backyard near you very soon.

With coffee, chaos & big dreams,

Julie & Maria