Kid Birthday Parties -- WTF!?!

I just have one question that I hope some parental historian can answer for me: When did a kid's birthday party, or parties, become the focus of so much of the average parent's schedule and disposable income?

I used to laugh at the idea of a parent spending $300 on their four-year-old's birthday party when I read about it in a magazine several years ago. I scoffed at the thought of these pretentious, 'keeping up with the Jones' suburb dwellers wasting money that could otherwise be put into the child's college savings account. After all, how could reasonable people justify hundreds of dollars for a kid's birthday party.

The cash register rang in at $66 and change today at Party City when I went to purchase some of the items for Rachael's upcoming 5th birthday party. I looked at the two bags (that's right, $33 per bag) of items. I didn't buy anything outrageous; Tinkerbell plates, Tinkerbell cups, Tinkerbell napkins, Tinkerbell streamers, Tinkerbell curling blower thingies, and some generic goodie bags (because I'm about ready to boycott the fucking Disney machine), and it came to $66 and change.

Her birthday isn't for another three weeks, but she was amped to go shopping for her party after spending the better part of the afternoon at her classmate's birthday party. The classmate had his party at the local kosher bakery, which was a cute and different idea. For those of us who have spent way too much time at My Gym and Chuck E. Cheese, cookie decorating at the kosher bakery was a welcomed departure.

The best part of the party was when the Israeli bakery owner took the kids and their parents on a tour of the back of the bakery. She let the kids take a spin in the big mixing vats telling them they were all cookie dough. Then with her heavy accent showed them the table where they would be shaped into cookies, and finally said to the kids, "Okay, now who wants to go into the big oven!" I'm not kidding, she really said that to a group of Jewish kids with their Jewish parents present. I'll be laughing about that for at least the next two weeks.

For Rachael's party I thought we'd be a bit more humble and have the party at home. Jeff and I thought it would be cheaper, but the $66 and change I spent today is only the beginning. Since she's still in preschool, we had to invite all of the kids in her class, who are accompanied by one or two parents and siblings, because I'm not going to say "no" to another kid who wants to come and have fun. Then there are the kids she knows from the neighborhood, our friends with kids, relatives, and anyone else we can think of who will assist us in getting rid of that monster-sized cake from Costco. We are clocking in at 33 people right now, and still have another 15 RSVPs that haven't come in yet.

We scheduled it for 1:00 in the afternoon, so that means lunch food. As expert party planners, we have a couple of games with prizes, my husband is renting a blowup jumphouse with a slide, and we have an enormous pinata that Jeff got for $10 in Tijuana. He was so happy about scoring the supersized pinata in the shape of a giant five for such a low price, until I reminded him that we have to fill it with candy, which will probably cost around $50. In the end, it won't be any cheaper to have the party at our house, and I'll be stuck with a big mess when it's over, but what can you do.

We all strive to give our kids what we didn't have growing up if we came from nothing, and if we had a great childhood, then we have the desire to give them the same happiness. I don't remember many of my birthday parties, but the few I do remember were big and fun, and all of my friends were there, and we played games and ate a big cake, and they were really wonderful memories. However, I can guarantee one thing, my mother never spent anything close to $300 on them.