I am caught between two very conflicting worlds of birthday parties. It is, naturally, between two sister in laws.
SIL #1 ( My brother’s wife) is lazy and either supplies *a couple bags of chips and dip * or does the Chuck Cheeze route. ( Which is mental death to an adult.) Pretty much they are in it for the butt loads of gifts as the presents are opened nearly immediately upon arrival. Because my brother is on disability and has no spine, and his wife is a spendthrift (she works) and they have only one child, this kid has every thing that has ever been advertized on TV. I always give books. I don’t think the spaz can even read.
SIL#2 ( Husband’s sister) is Martha Stewart Cloned. Evil Pure and Simple. The first bday party for her blessed-perfect-superb-her-shit does not stink little girl was like a wedding shower. 35 people showed. 35 people? I felt like I was at a country club soiree. I’ve all but blacked out the second birthday. This years fiasco saw less people , but (I’ve never seen this before) two heaping platters with steaks and chicken on it. And absolutely nothing for the kids to eat. ( Like mac and cheese or lunch meat. It was all adult gourmet style food. My kids eschewed eveyrthing but the designer cake and frankly, I did too.) The gifts for this little princess are over the top and a plethora of the top of the line stuff. She spent at least $300 on the first year’s affair and, according to her husband, it gets more expensive.
One doesn’t do shit. The other is my living nightmare. I would like to state that I have yet to receive a thank you note from either SIL.
I make my own cake ( Surprise it’s Day Glo Pink with gumdrops on it because Momma ran out of red food dye.) have everyone bring a dish to pass and we provide the main meal. Thank you notes go out in the mail within 48 hours.
Next year I am having my son’s april birthday party at the Zoo, I think. My daughter, a January birthday, I will have to work on for something fun, fun, fun.
I never had parties, really-mostly just relative parties. Not friend parties.
I do remember that on my fifteenth birthday, my family went to Idlewild Amusement Park in Ligonier, and my two best friends came along. That was a lot of fun!
I always did my Perfect Child’s[sup]TM[/sup] parties at home. Her favorites seem to be sleep-overs. I like them too - fewer kids. “Themes” have included:[ul]* “Decorate-your-own-hat” - I got straw hats, beads, sequins, feathers, felt pieces, ribbon, lace, hot glue - all the girls decorated their own hats and took them home as favors.
Make-your-own sundaes - after they had pizza, they got to build their own sundaes with all kinds of toppings.
Decorate-a-t-shirt/sleepover - I got crayons that they used to make iron-on transfers, which I ironed on plain white shirts. They slept in them and took them home the next day.
[/ul]She was more interested in hanging with her friends than going to a pricey venue - Like last year’s “Sweet 16” - a houseful of kids eating, playing CDs, hanging out. I’m glad these party days are about over, and I’m also glad I just have the one kid.
This is a bone of contention with the MIL and I. She’s said that since my first son was born she wants to pay for the birthday parties. Fine by me. But then I saw what she meant. TONS of giveaway crap toys, a HUGE cake, a huge goodie bag, and entertainment, not to mention the amount of food we cooked. I have gotten her to progressively scale down over the last couple of years and even to agree that no more after they are 5 years old. Just the family and 1-2 friends at the house for cake and maybe a movie. Frankly, I want the money going into their college fund instead of to an extravagant party. She’s finally agreeing with me.
What I DO think is absolutely ridiculous is the wedding-style sweet fifteen/sweet sixteen. Spend $10K on a party because she survived to be 15-16 but then when she graduates highschool, and doesn’t want to attend her graduation, it’s no big deal. Oh and you don’t want to go to college? No Prob, you’ll just marry someone rich… :rolleyes:
For this reason alone, I am glad that I’ve got all boys.
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I’m sorry, my children ARE the most gifted and special TO ME. That doesn’t mean that they are perfect angels or are never wrong, because believe me they have their days. Even if they were less than average at anything, that would probably just make them more special TO ME.
Ask your mom if she thinks her kids are special, or just merely average.
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Miamouse - Don’t you think it’s wasted on a child under the age of 5? It’s after that age that s/he’ll be in school, receiving invitations that need to be reciprocated, etc. And it’s as he gets to be 7-12 he’ll remember these parties as he grows up. I’m not a fan of going overboard, spending buckets 'o cash, but to be able to have your friends over for a party isn’t a bad thing. And, honestly, if your kid goes to classmate’s parties, you’ll be shelling out a good bit on presents for other kids. It only seems fair that once a year you get some of that back.
Nah, my kids have enough crap, and enough family on both sides giving new crap. Trust me, it’ll only get more expensive the older they get. Later on, I may do a big deal party. Probably at 10 and 15 years old. That way there’s a few years in between graduation/confirmation celebrations. Plus with staggering the three kids I’m hoping to have it work out to one or less parties a year.
Here’s an update on the child who was invited to the elaborate limo party in the OP:
Multiple birthday parties for her. Four parties; no joke. Is this some new trend?
She had a celebration with her dad’s family. Then she had a few of her friends sleep over. Then she was taken out of town for a birthday trip. Her fourth celebration will occur later this month, with her classmates.