Parents: Stop Going Overboard On Birthday Parties!
Birthday Parties Were Once Rare When did it become the new normal for parents to plan big birthday bashes for their kids, costing hundreds of dollars each year? Growing up in the 1980's, it was a rare thing for someone to have a birthday party. For those lucky few who did, it was a casually thrown-together affair at their homes, consisting of chips and cake. Seldom was anything epic like pizza served. Guests brought small token gifts, never exceeding five dollars. Extravagant parents hosted parties at McDonald's, long before play equipment was even installed. We didn't realize how rough we had it--because we didn't. Birthday Parties Are Now Entitlements Today, parents shower their kids with birthday parties on a yearly basis, starting at age one when the parties won't even be remembered. Is it about celebrating their children or competing with other parents? It certainly seems like parents are trying to out-do each other, as if their