When we decided to have a family, I was excited about the prospect of birthdays and all the fun that came with them. My birthdays growing up weren’t all that extraordinary, but they 
were fun. They were mostly parties at home with cake and whatever food I wanted for dinner…mmm, pizza.
Our own children are getting older, and birthdays started out the same way. When they were babies, it was a trip to grandma’s house with the aunts and uncles for some cake and a good meal. It was small and personal, and the kids seemed to have fun.
When my oldest turned four, we decided to up the ante and went to a themed children’s restaurant filled with games, animatronic puppets and hundreds of kids piled into a small space. It was great for the kids who had a ball with the pizza, opening presents and then running around like crazy people from game to game, plunking in tokens.
For me, it was a pain. The structure was regimented, the food was bad, and it wasn’t personal. It’s hard to make memories when you are trying to find your kid in a sea of other people’s kids. It drained the bank account and just wasn’t satisfying.
Since then, each child wants something bigger and better, and birthdays are becoming a stressful situation for everyone involved. A party that once took 10 minutes to plan with a phone call to grandma now takes three months of phone calls, reservations and invitations.
It’s only the beginning. As they get older and older, they will want more new experiences and different venues. I doubt they will regress back to the days of grandma and homemade cake. Now, parents are part of the party and we sit with them and enjoy it as much as they do.
It will evolve until we’re are watchers, and my children and their friends will be off doing their own thing. It may afford us a much deserved break, but it will be a little sad too. When the teen years come, who knows what’s going to happen?
They may not even want to celebrate their birthday or have a party. Instead, they’ll just want some cash to go the mall and spend the day watching movies and hanging out. We’ll still have cake and ice cream when they get home and be right back where we started. Sounds good to me.
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