Day 21
Can you imagine a future anthropologist looking back at the 21st century American middle class birthday traditions? Will they be able to determine the exact moment in time that a birthday went from just saying “congrats you didn’t get scarlet fever and die this year,” to a wrapped Lite-Brite and a cake with ice cream. And then, will they chart the evolution to these over-the-top themed birthday parties with not only a mountain of gifts for the recipient but gifts for the party-goers to take home as well?
I am not really one to talk here, traditionally, my kids start obsessing about “next year’s birthday party” on the evening of their current birthday. This year was no exception and this weekend my oldest turned nine.
Before The Simple Year, I told her we could have a Harry Potter themed birthday party. I researched online and saw a link about one mother who delivered invitations on scrolls via owls. When I read the article, the owl was actually a hand puppet, which I thought was false advertising, but still, given our current situation, it was going to be hard to stack up.
So, my solution was to go all inclusive at one of those loud, sticky, ticket-spitting game halls. I did, however bring a Harry Potter cake, so we’ll call it a compromise. I paid an obscene amount of money for about 18 kids to eat an unhealthy meal and then go try to throw it up on a couple of spinning rides. I figured I wasn’t actually buying any THING, just a service. That’s OK, right?
Over the years, I have seen a few kid party invites that state, NO GIFTS, and I have admired that. But, I’ll be honest, in the past; I didn’t want to “disappoint” my kids. This year, Kayla and I talked and I suggested that the invitation read, “no gifts were necessary, but if you would like to bring a book that you have already read and are ready to pass along, that would be appreciated.” She thought about it for a minute and finally said, “Well, you can put, No gifts necessary, but can you leave the part about the book off?”
Fine
And, do you know what? It was fine. She had a great day and we didn’t have to haul a bunch of things home for intermediary storage between China and the landfill.
I really was worried about it, yet she truly doesn’t seem to mind. She did get some gifts from us and other family members, a refurbished camera, second hand books, a recorder and a gift certificate for a painting class.
And when she went to bed, she seemed just as happy at the end of the day as she did last year when she got a stack of presents.