I recently read an article (below) in a local newspaper regarding lavish birthday parties for children. There were a few thoughts that crossed my mind. My initial thought that came to mind was the show on MTV called Sweet Sixteen. This is what the article is going to talk about… This show geared towards our teenage youth throwing lavish Paris Hilton like parties. These teens have parties that are at least six-figures. The goal is for them to out-do their friends because their parents have money. These teens try to book popular names to perform music at their parties. They want fancy entrances with hot young buff men carrying them in. Ultimately at the end of the night they get will get a fancy vehicle (BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Lexus) sporting their new public status.
While I haven’t lived the life of the wealthy I can’t speak from experience of having the proverbial silver spoon in my mouth or purse or whatever. All I can say is I am a hard working woman and mother. I don’t know what it is like to have things handed to me. I honestly don’t know if I could accept something I haven’t worked for. It’s not in my nature.
After I began reading the article it was geared towards even younger youth. Our youths from the age of 1! Yes ONE! It seems as if parents are trying to out do one another for their children. It’s a status symbol. But what are we teaching our children when we throw large stupid parties. We are setting their expectations so high our kids are going to turn into the few snobby kids we see now. Our world is going to ruled by them.
This article is a great eye-opener to us all. I am speaking my mind and observing what I see now in today’s society. As these children begin to age I do not want to be disrespected by them. I don’t want them to think that I owe them something in my 50’s or 60’s. What happened to morals? What happened to the way we grew up as kids in the 60’s and 70’s? What are we doing??????
Parents revolt against high-pressure birthdays
Patrick Condon
The Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Having decided on a ballerina theme for her daughter’s sixth birthday party, Michelle West drove all over to find little dancers for the cake. Then she put 50 little beefeater guards around the edges. And she gave it beautiful white icing with peppermint trim.
And what happened? The kids wouldn’t eat it.
It wasn’t long afterward that she joined a group of St. Paul parents determined to end the birthday party arms race.
Birthdays Without Pressure is taking aim at the oneupsmanship that drives moms and dads to throw parties that will really, really impress the kids and the other parents, too.
“We feel there’s a kind of cultural runaway going on right now around the birthday parties of kids,” said William Doherty, a University of Minnesota professor of family social science who had a hand in organizing the group, launched publicly earlier this month.
Birthdays Without Pressure has started a Web site and launched a media campaign.
The organization has also started collecting horror stories from other parents to argue its case. Among them:The race to provide a unique experience at kids’ parties can even get dangerous. In December, a 4-year-old girl was mauled by a cougar that was brought in as part of the entertainment at a birthday party for a 7-year-old in Coral Gables, Fla.
- A birthday party for a 1-year-old featured a gift-opening that lasted two hours. The child slept through most of it.
- Seven-year-olds were picked up in stretch limos to attend the birthday party of a classmate.
- A 6-year-old guest at a St. Paul birthday party didn’t like the contents of the gift bag and declared: “This is a rip-off.”
Doherty, who previously led a crusade against what he called overscheduled kids, got wind of frustration among parents after a colleague related how a mother at a parenting class had lashed out against the gift bags that have become a staple of kids’ parties.
That mom was Linda Zwicky.
“I just found myself wondering, you know, does he need another pencil? Does he need another rubber ball? Does he need another whistle?” Zwicky said.
But when Zwicky began planning her son Wyatt’s third birthday party, she found herself engaging in the same kind of oneupmanship.
“I was going to do gift bags, but I was going to do them right,” Zwicky recalled. The party had a train theme, so she got sticks and bandannas and made “hobo packs” that included animal crackers and bubble solution.
Zwicky said that party was a turning point for her. She helped found Birthdays Without Pressure.
What the members want, they say, is a general agreement that not every party has to be more memorable than the last.
“Why are we feeling the pressure to do all this?” said Julie Printz, another parent in the group. “Let’s come up with ways to do this that’s in your comfort zone, and have a broader spectrum of what’s acceptable in terms of kids’ parties.”
When Wyatt turned 4, Zwicky put on a much more modest affair: No theme. No gift bags. Simple party games involving milk bottles and pennies.
“The kids had a great time,” she said. “That’s the thing — the kids don’t care what kind of effort and planning you put into it. They’re kids.”
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