Experience exotic animals in your living room, Giant Scalextric installed in your garden, a double-decker bus equipped with bouncy castles or a huge silver truck containing the only 8-driver racing car simulator in the UK parked in your way: These are just a few of the options available if you are planning your child’s next birthday party. Has the world gone crazy or am I just hopelessly out of touch?
If, like me, you think that putting up flags, inviting a few friends for gelatin and ice cream and a walk in the garden is a perfect children’s party, then you will be horrified to read. Some recent stats: According to a party spending survey by Internet bank Smile.co.uk, more than half of the 3,500 parents who participated admitted that they ‘planned or spent’ up to £ 500 on the birthday party. Your son’s fifth birthday (apparently the worst offensive anniversary in terms of quirkiness).
However, this is nowhere near the staggering £ 10,000 that the Beckhams were reportedly lavishing on Brooklyn’s fifth, inviting friends to a large marquee in their garden outfitted with performers, a DJ and a magic show. And then there’s the £ 20,000 Willy Wonka-style event hosted by Quintessentially Events earlier this year for a seven-year-old in Gloucester, whose guests were invited by tickets hidden inside chocolate bars to a glorious oompa-loompas dance show. , a giant gob. – bump pond, miniature bumper car track, carousel, circus games and three different chocolate fountains. I’ll take your Willy Wonka party and raise £ 30,000 for you; yes, apparently it’s no wonder competitive parents spend £ 50,000 on their little darling’s special day. No wonder Kate Middleton’s parents became millionaires thanks to their children’s fancy dress and party accessories business!
In the US, this trend of self-improvement is getting so out of control that fed up parents have launched a campaign called No Pressure Birthdays, asking people to stop the whole thing. And who can blame them, with reports of a wealthy New York dad throwing a $ 10 million party for his 13-year-old daughter’s birthday party, including hiring the band Aerosmith and handing out gift bags worth $ 10,000.
But it’s not just the dizzying cost of parties that we British are concerned about; A recent study of just under 1,000 parents in the UK by online party experts http://www.Partydelights.co.uk found that 100 percent of parents admitted feeling stressed about their first birthday. their children. Selina, a Wiltshire mother of two, says she felt enormous pressure to make sure everything was perfect for her son’s first party. “I remember staying up until 2 in the morning making beautiful hand-sewn party bags and embroidering each with the guests’ names. I never made that mistake again! You learn when you’ve had a few more parties.”
But whether you give in to the pressure and host a big event with entertainers and themed activities or not, these days there are a number of unwritten rules at any children’s gathering that few of us dare to ignore. Take the subject of food, for example. Gone are the days when a few jelly sandwiches, a bowl of twigs, and wagon wheels would do – now, it’s all been “Jamie Olivered.” According to Partydelights, the top three foods served at parties these days are birthday cake (95 percent), French fries (88 percent), and cheese (82 percent), and much of the food. Traditional is replaced by a healthier, lower-sugar meal. and low-salt options such as whole wheat bread, fruit juice, white meat, and fresh fruits and vegetables such as carrots, cherry tomatoes, and corn on the cob. But, if you plan to come up with some new menu ideas, beware! Anthony Worrall Thomson did just that last year, with his recipe for “Snickers pie” (five Snickers bars combined with mascarpone, eggs, sugar, soft cheese and puff pastry; the fat equivalent of three deep-fried Mars bars). According to an article in The Scotsman, he was heavily criticized by a prominent nutritionist who said a lifetime Snickers cake would be enough, while another top chef called it “horrible.”
Perhaps he should have stuck to the birthday cake, which as the number one children’s party favorite food, remains the piece de resistance we are most likely to want to impress. Yet another warning: once you get a fondness for the perfect cake, it’s a hard habit to break. Anne, a busy Wiltshire GP and mother, began baking cakes for her children’s birthday parties as a challenge to herself as she had never baked before. He borrowed a book from his local library and asked his children to decide which cake they would like, a decision he regretted. She says; “With girls now choosing ever more elaborate recipes, and their birthdays only five weeks apart, it can sometimes seem like all I’m doing for weeks is making cakes.” However, doing your best to get the perfect cake doesn’t always mean spending hours in the kitchen. Take the example of Joanna Bowden, editor of LittleTimes. She admits that she travels from her home in Devon to Choccywoccydoodle in London every year to buy her daughter’s birthday cake, a guilty pleasure that tells me she intends to quit. I’m not sure I believe you, Joanna!
Whether you are planning to bake it yourself or travel to Paris to get it; There is something about your birthday cake that is almost definitely true. It is meant to be cut into small pieces, wrapped in a napkin, and shipped home in party bags along with a couple of plastic toys, balloons, and packets of candy. Now is it? In the good times, this would have been the norm. But not anymore. Children are becoming more demanding and today it is not uncommon to receive a Tamagotchi or even an iPod as a homecoming gift.
That might not be the case in your neighborhood, but with the average cost of a party bag in the UK reaching the princely sum of £ 7.48, a new wave of parents are deciding enough is enough and completely rejecting them. favor of more altruistic alternatives. Suggestions include making and decorating your own fairy cakes, taking a lucky dip, or having an activity-based party where children take home the fruits of their labor. Others opt for more ethical alternatives by offering gifts with “integrity.” A quick review on Google will show several websites that offer everything from fair trade handmade wooden toys to 100% recyclable party bags that guarantee they won’t end up as fodder in landfills. Recently, friends of mine took the idea a step further and turned down birthday gifts at a joint party for three six-year-old girls in favor of non-mandatory donations to their favorite local charities. Veronica, one of the moms who organized the party said: “I felt very strongly that because we were organizing a multi party, we did not want the parents to feel the pressure to buy gifts for each of the children, in addition to the idea of spending “. all that money in party bags filled me with horror. We talked to the children about it and they decided they would rather ask people to help rescue local dogs, cats and horses. We raised £ 170, instead of party bags, the charities we supported gave us stickers and postcards to give to our guests to take home with them. Our children did not feel that they had been lost in any way, and when the excitement of the party was completely forgotten, we were treated to a special tours of the animal rescue centers. It was a great experience for everyone involved and I would love to see more people doing it. “However, I don’t think this is exactly what I had in mind: one of the moms chatting on http://www.mumsnet.com! He recently recalled a party where each of the children was sent home with a live goldfish!
And if you’re putting your feet up reading this, thanking your lucky star, you can escape all this madness for a few years because your baby is still happily curled up in the womb; think again. Thanks to an old episode of Sex & The City in which Miranda is subjected to a baby shower, these are fast becoming the latest in the UK. Fortunately, as an expectant mother, you are not expected to host the entire event, but you should look suitably grateful (if not a bit confused) when presented with a diaper cake. No, it is not edible; It looks like a wedding cake and is comprised of two or more tiers of disposable diapers layered with helpful baby supplies, wrapped in a huge cellophane bag and topped with a bow. “Whatever is next!” I can hear my grandmother growling.
One final word of warning: If just the thought of throwing your little one’s next birthday party is starting to give him hives, then maybe you should count your blessings while he’s still young. As each year goes by, it could get a lot worse; as 17-year-old Rachael Bell’s parents found out this year. While they were out on an Easter break, Rachael decided to organize her own ‘let’s tear up the average family size disco party’ by advertising potential revelers on MySpace, resulting in around £ 20,000 in damages. Suddenly a few fingerprints in the paint and a piece of cake trampled on the carpet doesn’t sound too bad.