Kids Birthday Parties Gone Wild....


Birthday Party


I'm sure everyone has seen this demanding email by now.  After reading it I first thought 'poor child' and then it started me thinking about birthday parties in general for little people.  I don't know about you but birthday parties when I was younger meant some cake and ice cream and opening (modest) gifts for the lucky birthday girl or boy. Times have changed, yes?  For the better?  Not really.

We've all heard about the parties for celebs kids which are over the top outrageous but how many of us have been to a party with the same outrageous-ness (new word I just made up) just on a smaller scale?  In a world where bigger is better how can we top a really BIG fest next year?  People spend hundreds and thousands (!) of dollars on their little prince or princesses parties.  There are even party planners for kids birthday parties.  Who knew?

We've done big parties here and small ones and I think the smaller ones are more memorable for the kids.  The year we did a 'field day' type of party and I believe every child we've ever met was invited (and attended) was they year I said 'enough'.  Since then I've tried to keep it smallish.

Until a party planner was born.  When my daughter turned 13 in January she wanted to go all out. Oy!  But she did everything herself and we kept the costs down (I'm good at that!) I'm wondering what next year will bring?

One thing I know is that the Dollar Tree is your best friend when planning your party budget.  It's the best place to get all the paper products for the fete.  Remember, it all gets thrown out about 5 seconds after you serve that cake so why pay an arm and leg for it?

The other thing I know is that I have never and will never send you an email with my gift demands for my precious little angel.


Comments

Arm Chair Philosopher said…
I suspect there are now birthday gift registries too...no need for the email!
May 1, 2015 at 11:04 AM
Laurie Anne said…
So completely insane. I remember the first "friend" bday party I attended with Ben. I got the birthday boy a big thing of Bubbles and some punching balloons. I was embarrassed when the gift giving started and gift after gift was big AND expensive. When the mom opened our gift she made a face and said "oh... how... nice" tried to give me smile, but it looked more like she was suffering from GI distress. Couldn't get out of there fast enough.
When Sam turned 12 I wanted to do something special, maybe a surprise party like had at 12, but she just wanted to take a girl friend to dinner and a movie. Okay, then. So many times the parties are about "isn't this mom the most awesome ever" and not so much the kid. As for that email... while I can appreciate the sentiment behind it, the delivery was not the best. Those conversations are best in person.
Great Post :0)
May 1, 2015 at 4:24 PM
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