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My kids are 7 and 4 and we've only had 2 formal birthday "parties" between the 2 of them. I hate kids' birthday parties. I hate having them for my kids and I hate going to them. Last year, my oldest was allowed to have one friend over for a sleepover. The youngest got sent to school with goodie bags and cupcakes for her friends. I don't really care if the kids feel they are "missing out" on anything. After 2 years of nothing, the oldest requested a party, so I did it, but told her it will not be done yearly.
My children have resources and access to things I never did as a child. Vacations, summer camps- many things my parents couldn't afford when I was a kid......They can live without a birthday party every year.
Now, there is always some sort of celebration of their birthday, but not a formal party.
Depends on what you want to do. I stopped them pretty early. Gave them a choice of a party or picking a couple of friends and doing something special. They always picked the special thing.
And the fact this was being done to celebrate a birthday was never ever mentioned?
Birthday parties change over the years....and they dont always involve silly hats. If you are celebrating with family and friends the fact you've got a new number as an age......than its a birthday party. An outing is what you do the rest of the year.
I disagree. You can "celebrate" without having a "party." What Mattie described is a celebration not a party.
And the fact this was being done to celebrate a birthday was never ever mentioned?
Birthday parties change over the years....and they dont always involve silly hats. If you are celebrating with family and friends the fact you've got a new number as an age......than its a birthday party. An outing is what you do the rest of the year.
I've already told you to call it whatever you like, I don't care. It's silly semantics like this that derail so many threads. My sons wouldn't have wanted it to be called a birthday "party" by around the age of 10, so the focus changed to the activity, rather than the celebration hoopla.
I think the last birthday party my daughter had was her eleventh birthday. I was a the point where I could spend $150 on a party or I could spend the money on a more expensive gift. This was the time that she wanted bigger gifts, like a television for her room or an MP3 player. She chose the gift over the party.
We still celebrated by going out to dinner just the three of us but it wasn't a big production.
I grew up in a family that never had birthday parties so I still can't wrap my head around having a big party every year.
My parents were too cheap to spend money on a party for KIDS. It was a big deal to just get some new clothes out of them. It was that poverty mentality they had from the depression. It really made a mark on them.....
Uh, excluding 1st birthday, we don't do birthday parties.
We do something small with family. I plan an outing that includes lunch or dinner, salon/nail shop, movie theater, and shopping.
My kids' birthdays fall around Thanksgiving and Christmas, so peers are often on vacation or busy for parties and/or broke from Christmas shopping. With their birthdays close to winter holidays we keep it low key.
My kids are 7 and 4 and we've only had 2 formal birthday "parties" between the 2 of them. I hate kids' birthday parties. I hate having them for my kids and I hate going to them.Last year, my oldest was allowed to have one friend over for a sleepover. The youngest got sent to school with goodie bags and cupcakes for her friends. I don't really care if the kids feel they are "missing out" on anything. After 2 years of nothing, the oldest requested a party, so I did it, but told her it will not be done yearly.
My children have resources and access to things I never did as a child. Vacations, summer camps- many things my parents couldn't afford when I was a kid......They can live without a birthday party every year.
Now, there is always some sort of celebration of their birthday, but not a formal party.
This. All of this.
I don't like them at all, but maybe that's the introvert in me. My 8 year old is very introverted and doesn't do big social gatherings, and my 10 year old's idea of a "party" is doing something with her three best friends. I asked her if she wanted to do something next year, and she mentioned going someplace with her friends or doing something small.
My 5 year old's birthday is the day after Christmas, so the likelihood of having parties for him, even if I were willing, is nil. And my youngest is a Thanksgiving baby, so her birthday will fall on Thanksgiving or on/near Black Friday.
$200+ on party stuff, reservations, food, snacks, fees, not including gifts, or $200+ worth of what they want. Plus, with Christmas around the corner or having passed, they're surely NOT missing out.
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