Whether the celebration is for one of my kids or not, birthday parties seem to bring out the brattitude in Daniel and Addie. The combination of new toys to covet, lots of sugar, and the typical afternoon timing of parties appears to be the catalyst for my children to turn into the worst version of themselves. If you ever watch Wordgirl on PBS, one of the villains she battles is a girl named Eileen who turns into a giant green monster named "Birthday Girl" when she wants something and can't have it. (I love that show.) And if Daniel and Addie haven't completely melted down by the end of the party, the treat bag is the tipping point. I can't tell you how many treat bags I've wanted to chuck out the window on the way home.
As Daniel's 5th birthday approaches I dread every party we are invited to, mostly because I don't want him to ask for his own destination birthday party with friends. I just don't want to do it. Number one, I don't want to spend the money. And two, I don't want to be Mom to the "Birthday Girl" version of Daniel in the days (possibly weeks) leading up to the party.
I don't know how to ward off the gimme's and teach the kids to be grateful at this age. My feeble attempt today somehow ended up with me asking Daniel if he thought toys were more important than people. He replied, "Yes, because toys make people happy and making people happy is very important." Ugh.
Plan B: Distraction. If Daniel asks for a destination party I'll tell him, "No, we're having a party in the backyard with family as usual...but as a special treat Daddy is going to take you to Six Flags!"
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You are so funny. We have managed to avoid the destination b-day part thus far and I dread it as well. The thought of screaming kids at monkey joes gives me hives. How about a "b-day bbq" at a park? I think we might do that next year. The local playground is a destination right?
ReplyDeleteI too dread those days. We've turned down invites to other kid's parties (except family) just because we're not ready to go there...yet. Someday, I suppose we'll have too - but with 4 kids, we're going to put it off as long as possible!!!
ReplyDeleteThe good news, for me at least, is that your kids are perfectly normal. The bad news, for you, is that your kids are perfectly normal. Parties can be such a pain. I don't adore the destination parties, but I will say that I've done that math and there's a tipping point (invitee numbers) where it is actually cheaper to go that route. I know I spent more on Ainsley's last party of just cake-and-ice-cream at our house than if I had it at a pool. Go figure.
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