March 25 - Birthday Parties

When I was a kid, I went to maybe as many as two or three birthday parties a year. When I had a birthday, it was an event for a few friends and family. At school, on birthdays, we'd celebrate in class with cupcakes and juice if it was grade school.

When did this change? My kids are invited to a party for every birthday for every child in their class. What a pain! This is no pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey affair at the kids home, either. Parents rent out a party spot like Pump-it-Up or Raddi-Jazz or some such and let the kids go nuts with cake and pizza and inflatable bounce castle things for several hours.

It seems like every other week one of our Saturdays gets decimated by this new fashion. And now, we are obligated by the other families and by the expectations of our kids to supply a similar party. Or, we could explain to our kids why they, alone amongst all their peers, are not going to these parties and are not having such parties. Yeah, right, Grinch of the year, right here. Not.