Tuesday Tantrums~Kids Birthday Parties

I have so much that I really want to rant and rave about today, but some of it is too fresh and the wounds still too new so I'll have to wait on those. I've settled in on writing about kids birthday parties, since we just went through one.

I'll be the first one to admit that I HATE kids parties. You know that you think it too, but you just don't want to say it out loud. By admitting that you hate going to them, it'll look almost hypocritcal when you send out invitations to your child's next party.

I hate it when parents go overboard and to major extremes, sparing no cost, for their 2 year old, who will never remember it to begin with. All the kid wants is cake, presents and maybe a balloon to bat around the room. Instead, I have a friend who gave her 4 year old a princess party. All the girls dressed up in princess outfits, and I'll admit, they were super cute. I was flipping through her pictures on Facebook and came to one of a 'chariot'. They had taken their simple red, Radio Flyer wagon, covered it with unbelievable amounds of lace and satin, created a canopy for it and brought each of the girls from the front door to the room where the party was being held. The ceiling was decorated with draping satin and lace (not the typical crate paper we all grew up with). The 4 year old was in one of the pictures, dressed in the most fru-fru burgandy dress (that had to cost upwards of a hundred dollars at least), leaning out the side of this magic chariot, waving her best princess wave at all those who were taking pictures. (It's no wonder that this mother later commented about the major meltdown this beautiful little princess had when it was time to cut the princess cake (2 tiers, white icing, beads and like a miniture wedding cake!) I was so thankful I wasn't invited to this one!



I have 5 kids, so it seems that every week there is a birthday party that they are invited to. My 9 year old got upset with me yesterday because I haven't let her go to any of them so far. Remember, I HATE birthday parties! Let's get down to it....I can't stand that parents invite a whole bunch of little kids over to throw gifts at their child. I hate that the child is made to be the 'party girl/boy' and therefore think that the whole world revolves around them. I hate that we spend money on toys or gifts, that will probably be thrown in a toy box or the bottom of the closet after a couple weeks. I hate that parents try to 'out do' each other. Just in the last month, my kids have been invited to a party at Sparkles at Monkey Joes, at bowling alleys, at aice skating rink. One was having a Mario themed party where the kids were asked to play a role and dress up. One was having a princess party at Snip Its where they were getting manicures, makeup and hair done. These were 2nd graders!!!

So yes, I HATE kids parties. We'll just stick with cupcakes and ice cream sandwiches, or maybe get 'fancy' and make a dirt cake, complete with gummy worms and gummy bugs. Nice, quiet, no chaos and still a lot of fun and presents.