It’s just like any other Halloween club event. Club NV is decorated with scary skulls, crosses and gloomy graveyards in shades of black, red and white. Seventies music is blasting from the surround sound and patrons are starting to arrive. Someone comes through the door.

Wearing a fireman helmet and a red and yellow jacket, Adam Cajuguiran stands at the entrance and takes a moment to check out the scene before him. Liking what he sees, Adam smiles his approval. Then his father grabs his chubby little hand and walks inside, waiting at the check-in for his wristband.

Walking around wearing a black witch costume, making sure everything is in its place for the guests, Margaret Ramos says she gets a lot of mixed reactions to the party events, known as PartyKidz, that she and her husband Marius throw. She says parents say to her, “What, your child is having a birthday party at a nightclub?”

“I always love throwing parties,” Marius says. “Been doing it for ten years now—family functions, quinceañeras and house parties.” It was at a bar that they met one another. But when they had kids, Margaret says it was a total life change. “All of a sudden, we weren’t getting calls to go out anymore.” Since their friends did not call them to socialize as often after their children were born, she says they often threw house parties, bringing the party scene to them.

Marius says it was during a house party a year ago that the idea for PartyKidz came to life. “We saw our daughter Samantha dancing with other kids and thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have a place that entertain adults and the kids together?’ Parents could have a glass of wine while their children are dancing.”

Watching his little fireman from the sidelines, moving and grooving to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Elwin Cajuguiran mentions how much his children enjoy these once-a-month events. Having attended four previous ones, he says PartyKidz is interactive. “It has everything—convenience, food, music and entertainment. ... Other places really cannot compare. The only other place we’ve been to is Chuck E. Cheese, and my wife likes the massage idea here.”

“It is an innovative idea for a great venue for kids and adults to enjoy together,” says Ritchelle Quiambao, business manager for PartyKidz. Margaret says they make the events kid-friendly, that it is different from going to the conventional places where they just cater towards the kids.

His first time at the event, Manny Simon decided to throw his daughter Jaidyn’s first birthday party at PartyKidz after his wife found the venue online and thought it would be interesting to celebrate at a club. Simon says he likes how the event is family-oriented and is friendly for their children’s age group in a safe environment.

“When we first started back in June 2007, we only had a massage chair, face painting and food for $20 general admissions,” Marius says. “We grew to having magic shows, a play area for toddlers, to private party events and music played by MC Freestyle Franco, the Disney radio personality, for $10.” Margaret says that each event is a learning experience. With the feedback they have received from their guests, their events have gotten better and really taken off. “We had about 450 people for last year’s Halloween event,” Marius says.

Another thing about PartyKidz that Simon found interesting and unique is that adults can socialize with other adults from other groups within the event. Guests are not completely cut off from the main party, Margaret says. Everybody can come on the common dance floor and dance, and the entire place is wide open. “Each of our events is like a reunion. We see people who we used to see at parties when we were in our twenties come now with their kids of their own.”

The party is in full swing now. Some parents dance with their children, some don’t. A few fathers grab some beers while watching their children play with hula hoops on the dance floor as their wives get a shoulder massage. “The only thing missing in this place is a big screen television for the football game… then this place would be cracking,” Dack Monpanez says while bopping his head to Timbaland.