feedback for "Bad Parent 5: Birthdays Gone Wild!"

1. Seriously. I have never understood this urge to create these insanely expensive parties for small people who will not remember the amount of money their parents spent (or even play with all the presents they receive). I'm a Gen-X mother (36 if you must know) and my daughter will be turning 3 next month. I have nothing planned. I don't feel guilty, either. We're going to have a small gathering of family and friends, a cake, some brats and burgers and dip and chips. That's it. I refuse to spend stupid amounts of money on my kid. I'm the person who doesn't buy into the whole the-world-revolves-around-my-kid-so-I-have-to-spend-gobs-of-money-so-everyone-will-know-it parenting format. I guess if you have that kind of disposable income ($200 for a tiger cub for 2 hours?), you might as well spend it on your kid, but don't be surprised when all that money you spent comes back to bite you when he equates money with love and develops a GIGANTIC sense of entitlement. 

   posted by : katydidmama on 4/27/2007 at 5:04 PM Flag For Abuse

2. hear hear. we recently through a fancy 2nd birthday party for our little 30 pounds of trouble, and frankly i am disinclined to repeat it. A nice little gathering with friends is more than adequate and more intimate and fun at the end of the day. Once kids are four and over at least they will remember the gathering; prior to that its really more about the parents than the kids in my opinion.
   

   posted by : Papaganoose on 4/29/2007 at 12:21 PM Flag For Abuse

3. Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham's daughter Brooklyn's !

   posted by : kdrummond on 7/12/2007 at 12:22 AM Flag For Abuse

4. Not trying to be difficult...but Posh Spice doesn't have a daughter.  She has a son named Brooklyn (and another named Romeo).  I'm pathetic...I know. 
   
   For my daughter's first birthday, I ran out to the Kroger down the street in the middle of the night and got a tiny cake.  Later in the day...her father and I sat at the table with her while she sat in it.  Party on!
   
   

   posted by : Abjazzma on 8/11/2007 at 9:25 AM Flag For Abuse

5. My daughter's 3rd b-day party consisted of cake and ice cream in our backyard. She and a few of her friends (2) played in the sprinkler and blew bubbles. We invited family and some adult friends, and it was the perfect mix of adult and kid party. It cost about $50 and half of that was the cost of the cake.   I will never have one of those over-the-top parties for my kids. The important part is showing your children that they are important, not what you buy in the process. She helped clean the house and put snacks together. It was her party, and she loved it. What she remembers most - playing in the sprinkler with her friends. Now that, is a party.

   posted by : Fweetieb on 9/19/2007 at 2:11 PM Flag For Abuse

6. My daughter has been to two birthdays this summer --one at a paint-your-own pottery place, and one in a friend's backyard with a sprinkler, slip-and-slide, and homemade cake. Guess which one was more fun?

   posted by : Kathy on 8/1/2008 at 6:18 PM Flag For Abuse

7. I loved my childhood birthday parties. Before the age of 9 they were family affairs with homemade cakes and presents, and I got to choose what we had for dinner. Very exciting. After that I got to invite a couple of my friends over for slumber parties, with more homemade cakes, my choice of dinner, presents, movie rentals and giggling until we all fell asleep in our sleeping bags. I hope my kids will like that kind of thing because I am not the hostess with the mostest and never will be. I figure the first few years will be more I Survived The First Year type parties for me, rather than birthday parties the babies won't understand. Also, as I am due in August, I'm thinking BBQ. :)

   posted by : mchaos on 1/12/2009 at 10:43 PM Flag For Abuse