There used to be a rule of thumb for birthday parties.
Never invite more kids than the age of your child. A birthday party for a two-year-old has two guests, in other words. For an eight-year-old, you can invite eight, etc.
Yesterday, I was hearing about people spending over $500 on a party for a five-year-old kid! Petting zoo! Bounce room! Pony rides!
We also had a rule that, if your kid was invited to somebody else's party, there was a limit on how much they should spend for a present. When the girls were little, it was $5, but by the time Brendan started going to parties, it was $15.
The whole idea of inviting the entire day care to a preschooler's birthday party has nothing to do with not wanting any of the kids to feel left out, and everything to do with wanting to get as many presents as possible. With 30 guests, by the time the party is over, the birthday child can no longer remember which gift came from whom. Of course, it doesn't matter, because no child (or parent) is required to send a "thank you" card any more.
By the time the child reaches the double digits, I think a better celebration is to take one or two of his or her best friends and do something really nice. Go to a children's play; visit an amusement park, or a point of interest in your area. Take them on a ghost tour, or to a go-kart track. As long as it's something special.
If we keep escalating the amount of money we are willing to spend on parties for our small children, when does it end? $30,000 Quinceaneras?
Give me a break!
Oh Gawd, Ronni, I so agree with you.
ReplyDeleteMy grandson invited all his classmates to his party last year. Coincidentally, the event was held at 'Geronimo's', which is a ball-play area with the usual swings and slides within a padded compound.
Long story short; it cost a blinking fortune, but the saving grace was the fact that we didn't have to carry cakes, or buy all those party favours that make a heck of a mess.
For £6 a head, they took care of all the food, cakes and drinks for 2 hours. We just picked up the tab, gave the young ladies a tip and went home.
Very expensive. On top of the Playstation games and action figures, it cost a good few hundred pounds.
Thank goodness he gave us 6 months notice, so we were prepared.
Ummmm, Well...We aren't inviting the entire preschool class, just 4 of his best friends and then his cousins. And our petting zoo and pony ride is only $250, do I still fall into the "ridiculous" category?
ReplyDeleteI guess because I never had a b'day party, I always want theirs to be big fun, but I draw the line at anything more than $250 - that was almost too much for me.
I think your party sounds wonderful, Justin.
ReplyDeleteWhat could be better than pony rides? Worth every penny.
There IS such a thing as a $30000 Quinceanera. I know a family who spent $3k on the PHOTOS for all THREE of their son's bar mitzvah EVENTS. I had a GREAT time assisting the photographer they paid. Heh.
ReplyDeleteA HUGE party at a ranch in Georgetown, complete with boxers with his name on the band for the kids to take home, and glass cowboy boot mugs for the adults to take home.
A band.
BBQ,hayrides, a cowboy singalong at the campfire when it got dark.
And there were about 150 in attendance.
No. It wasn't Michael Dell's boy -- but someone close, I'm sure.
Justin, as long as you draw the line SOMEWHERE!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't picking on you, by the way. I heard a discussion on the radio yesterday morning, and it got me thinking about it.
Fire, Berry, I know. I've been to a couple of those quincenearas!
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