- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Babies: 3 - 6 Months
LurkieLoo
member
I HATE birthday parties for children...
LurkieLoo
member
I absolutely hate kids' birthday parties! Everytime I get an invite- I RSVP "no" and I want to say "hell no". A 1 year old does not need presents from Mom and Dad's friends. Nor does a one year old need a jump castle or $100 of Dora the Explorer decorations. Heck I don't even think that a 5 year old needs that. I think its terribly greedy to invite your friends to your child's birthday- its basically just asking for presents that the kid doesn't need.
I can understand inviting family and close close close friends to a birthday party but even then sometimes it seems a little much.
Hubby and I have agreed that the kids can have a birthday party every 5 years and even then it will be VERY simple and we think that we will ask that people not bring gifts.
Sorry I just had to get that off my chest because in the past month I've been invited to 3 birthday parties all for children under the age of 3 and from people that I have hung out with maybe 3 times since my child was born!
UGHHHHHH
This discussion has been closed.
Re: I HATE birthday parties for children...
Really? A birthday party every 5 years? So at age 5, 10 and 15 only?
I do agree that it gets a little ridiculous when people invite everyone they know to a child's birthday party...I plan on only close friends and family....but to only have a bday party for a child every five years seems a little odd to me. What are you going to do when your child gets invites to his/her friends bday parties and wonders why he only gets one every five years?
I agree that it's a bit much to be invited to parties for children you hardly know. I invite my friends to my kid's parties, but I make sangria and adult type appetizers and we all have a blast while the kids play. They usually bring gifts, but a good gift for a kid's party is $10 or less. Our group of friends is always looking for any excuse to get together, so it's a great time.
I can't imagine only having birthday parties every 5 years for a child. My daughter Katherine's favorite "holiday" of the year is her birthday. We've had a party every year. No bounce houses or anything. She loves to look back at photos of her 1st and 2nd birthday parties and she remembers and still talks about the 3rd, 4th, and 5th.
I think that's part of the problem. Generally, when I'm invited to these parties - it's for a good friend or person that I know very well. I come from a different culture - showing up without a present for the child is a sign of disrespect and disregard for the child and your relationship with his/her parents. Friend or not.
I on the other hand never felt that I've had to bring a present to a soiree. When I give, I want to shower the person with presents. It's just part of my personality and a thank you for being invited.
I know it may be an unpopular opinion but if you're going to partake in the festivities don't show up empty handed. I agree with you checking "no" on the RSVP. I don't remember my 1st birthday party but there are pictures/videos and I look like the happiest little girl in the world.
Yikes! I love parties and I have a b-day party every year & we provide drinks and entertainment, nobody brings gifts. I will do the same for DD. I agree that some parents go overboard in the early stages, but you're only young once!! For me, it's all about having fun & celebrating life and its one day that's in celebration of only you. I think every person deserves that. I honestly think it would suck to only get 1 party every 5 years...
Wow, your poor kids! Only getting a party every 5 years. Sorry but that's awful.
I will be inviting all of my friends to DS's birthday party and they can bring presents or not. It's about getting together to celebrate my son, not the gifts. I will be theming it out too. Not because he'll remember it, but because I will, and there will be plenty of pictures for him to reflect on later.
I think you're looking at this from the wrong perspective. They only get to do these milestones once. Why not celebrate them??
Sorry I didn't explain myself well- a big birthday party every 5 years- like at Chuckie Cheese or the skating rink or whatever is cool at the time for them. I just HATE when people spend literally HUNDREDS of dollars on decorations, invite 50+ people, plan for months, get a bounce house EVERY SINGLE YEAR.
We plan on having family over every year to celebrate birthdays and then doing a party party every 5 years. I do think that our kids will wonder why they don't have parties every year when they are invited to other kids' parties but I hope that they won't be so superficial and materialistic that it will be that big of a deal. We did talk about that and we understand that they might be upset about that but I'd rather them but upset then grow up being spoiled.
I also have to add in here, if you don't like presents - fine. That's your preference. However, we can't deny that there are people who WANT to give your child presents. I could never deny her aunts, grandmother, uncles to not give my LO anything. It would hurt/annoy them not to be able to give. To deny them that awesome feeling you get when you "give" a present would be extremely selfish on part.
This.
children's birthday parties, aren't just for the kids. last time i checked the day my daughter was born was a pretty big day for me and my husband. i was to celebrate her life, and the day i brought her into the world. i don't think people invite friends and family because they want gifts. i think they genuinely want to celebrate a major day in their family's life. what is wrong with that?
i will agree that getting invited to a child's birthday from someone you are only acquaintances with is a little annoying, though. but in that case, just do as you do- rsvp no. i think that's totally acceptable in those cases.
i can't imagine letting my kid only celebrate their birthday every 5 years. but to each their own...
Sorry to DP but I wanted to respond to what someone else said-
We WILL celebrate their birthdays as a family- maybe one year we will go on vacation for their birthday, maybe one year it will be just a special day that they pick but I really think that big birthday parties every year are compelely uneccessary.
When both hubby and I were little we only had a few birthday parties and I honestly don't even remember being upset that I didn't have a big party every year. We remember the ones we did have and look back on those with fond memories but we also look back fondly on those small birthdays where we just celebrated with family or went on vacation.
I agree, I just meant that we'd never expect them, especially from friends. Gifts or no gifts, I'd just love to have the birthday party (and with the grandma's, there will be gifts).
A child is not going to be spoiled if they have a birthday party every year. Its one day a year. Even if it is a huge party every year. One day out of the year won't spoil them. But even if you don't want to do a huge party every year you could still do a party with their friends from school and just do cake and ice cream.
It seems like some of you are just jumping on the bandwagon and flaming me but you're not actually reading what I am writing so SLOW down and read and then give your opinion.
We are going to celebrate every year. We will do a get together with family, vacation, trip to the museum... whatever EVERY SINGLE YEAR. He will get cake and presents from us and grandparents and probably aunts and uncles EVERY YEAR. Every 5 years he will have a big party with friends but we will not spend hundreds on decorations, toys, stuff that is only used one day of his life. We'd rather spend that money on something more memorable like a vacation or money for his college account. I'm pretty sure that when he is 20 he will be more thankful for $1000 we invested into his college savings or a cool memorable trip to Jamaica for his birthday rather than a big party and tons of silly little presents from friends.
He is loved. He has everything he could ever want for and then some. You don't have to be sorry for him or any of our future children just because he won't get 10 Transformer figurines from 10 different nursery school friends when he turns 3.
While children's parties can get out of control, when the kids are young it's all for the parents. I can already tell you that DD first birthday party will be way over the top! But oh well- we waited forever to have kids- and it's a good excuse to hang out with our friends and their children and just have a celebration. Honestly I don't think $100 for party decorations is that much money, but it's relative- some people think it's crazy to spend money on some things while others don't think anything of it.
As for adult parties, we always go out for dinner with friends to celebrate birthday's, but this year is my DH's 40th birthday- I am going all out- renting a hall, hiring a DJ, the works! But he's 40! If you don't make a big deal out of things then no one else will- life is too short not to celebrate!!!
I like what you said....Life is too short not to celebrate!
I understand what you are saying!
You will celebrate every year, and every five years, you will have a really big party. That makes sense to me. I think your original post made it seem like the child was only going to get acknowledged every five years though.
Every 5 years and no presents? So, his only kid birthday parties will be at age 5 and 10? That's so sad, IMO. I love children's birthday parties but we have a very close circle of friends. I think it's great to celebrate your child's birthday. They're kids, why not let them have fun?
Our family blog
i have 2 children and i am not a huge fan of over the top parties. we have gone to parties at chuckie cheese (hell no never for either of my children) an indoor playland and been to one that had a blow up castle (although $100 to keep it for the weekend seems pretty cool).
our dd's first birthday was at home with some neighbor friends and grandparents (the neighbors have kids her age so that is why they were invited). her second party was at my parents home (so that dh's parents would show up-an entirely different post) and i invited friends with little kids her age. third birthday this year we had friends from play group--so it was a playdate with lunch and cake. no decorations--other than streamers left over from last year. she could have cared less.
some people go all out on birthdays and while i think they should be celebrated and special you don't have to spend a lot or have a lot of people to make them great or memorable. heck in 2 years (when she is 5) no party-we are going to try to do Disneyworld!
Yes this exactly!
Sorry I didn't explain myself well enough in the first post. I reread it and can see where I was wrong in my explanation. I was irked by the influx of invations and typed faster than my thoughts were coming so some things I was thinking and not typing. Like when you tell a story and leave out a very important part thinking that you said that part and people are all "WHAAAA?"
Yeesh, you sound like kind of a killjoy here. Some people like any excuse to throw a party. No one is making you go if you don't want to, but it's hardly greedy to throw a birthday party for a child. No one needs a party or gifts. It's not about needing it, it's about having fun.
I'm sorry that people you don't know well are inviting you to parties (maybe trying to include you in the festivities and cultivate a better relationship?), but I think it's a little over the top to label parents who throw birthday parties as "greedy."
For the record, for my older son's first birthday we had the three of us, my mom, my aunt, and my cousin. Very simple.