Oh, these new age, non-competitive pinatas are the tip of the iceberg. I’ve been to plenty of these birthday parties with my kids. The parties I like are when you drop off your kids and come back later for them, or parties (mostly by my Latin American friends) that feature a full bar in the back room for the adults and the kids entertain themselves.
These new smarmy, egg-shell yuppie parties are something else. The parents hover over their royal, sensitive children and “HELP” them have fun. “Wasn’t that nice? Wasn’t that fun? Ooh, Ahh what a wonderful present! Did you say thank you to Jared?”
And then, the worst part, the non-competitive, non-violent, cooperative, esteem-building “games.” I haven’t seen the ribbon pinatas, but I have seen this. One party played “Musical Chairs” but there were enough chairs for all the kids. They wouldn’t remove a chair because it would require one kid aggressively pushing another kid out, who would be out of the game. So the music played, the kids skipped around the chairs, and then the music stopped and they all sat down. And they and their parents looked at each other, trying to remember what was fun about this game, anyway.
And then, “Pin the Tail on the Donkey,” which filled these new age parents with nostalgia, but of course they managed to ruin this one, too. You blindfold a kid, twirl him around and he pins a tail in the wrong place on the donkey. This is supposed to be funny, but the parent sets out to be sure it isn’t. Otherwise the kid might lose his self esteem. “Oh, you put the tail on the donkey’s head! That’s okay, it’s like a ribbon in her hair now.” Again you can feel this under-current among the parents, who remember enjoying this game as kids but now can’t remember why, because they have now effectively ruined the whole point of the game
Most of these parents are younger than I am and I am appalled at their cluelessness. I don’t want to even think about what the world will be like when their indulged, protected, pampered children take over.
