Party Panic – The madness of organizing children’s birthday parties

Live exotic animals in your living room, Giant Scalextric set up in your garden, a double-decker bus equipped with bouncy castles or a huge silver truck containing the UK’s only 8-driver racing simulator parked in your driveway: These are just a few of the options available if you’re planning your child’s next birthday party. Has the world gone crazy, or am I just hopelessly out of touch?

If, like me, you are of the opinion that putting up some little flags and inviting a few friends over for jam and ice cream and running around the garden is the perfect children’s party, then you will be horrified to read Some recent statistics: according to a survey on spending on hosted by Internet bank Smile.co.uk, more than half of the 3,500 parents who took part admitted they “plan to or have spent” up to £500 on their child’s fifth birthday party (apparently the worst offensive anniversary ever). terms of extravagance).

However, this is nowhere near the staggering £10,000 the Beckhams reportedly lavished on 5th Brooklyn, treating friends to a huge marquee in their garden outfitted with performers, a DJ and a magic show. And then there’s the £20,000 Willy Wonka-esque event organized by Quintessentially Events earlier this year for a seven-year-old boy in Gloucester, whose guests were treated with tickets hidden inside chocolate bars to a glorious oompa-dancing extravaganza. loompas, a giant gob. -Stopper pond, miniature bumper car track, carousel, circus rides and three different chocolate fountains. I’ll come to your Willy Wonka party and raise £30,000 for you; Yeah, apparently it’s not unheard of for competitive parents to spend £50,000 on their little darling’s special day. It’s no wonder that Kate Middleton’s parents became millionaires thanks to the business of costumes and accessories for children’s parties!

In the US, this superiority trend is getting so out of control that fed-up parents have launched a campaign called No Pressure Birthdays, asking people to stop all of this. 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 booking the band Aerosmith and handing out gift bags for value of $10,000.

But it’s not just the spiraling cost of the holidays that worries us Brits; a recent study of just under 1000 UK parents by online party experts http://www.partydelights.co.uk found that 100 per cent of parents admitted to feeling stressed about their child’s first birthday . Selina, a mother of two from Wiltshire, 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 one with the names of the individual guests. I never made that mistake again! You learn when you’ve thrown a few more parties.”

But whether or not you cave in to the pressure and throw a big event with entertainers and themed activities, these days there are a number of unwritten rules at any children’s gathering that few of us dare to ignore. Let’s take the subject of food, for example. Gone are the days when a few jam sandwiches, a plate of twigs, and some Wagon Wheels would do the trick—now, it’s all been “Jamie Olivered.” According to Partydelights, the top three foods served at parties these days are birthday cake (95%), chips (88%), and cheese (82%). and low-salt options, such as whole wheat bread, fruit juice, white meat, and fresh fruits and vegetables such as carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, and corn on the cob. But, if you’re planning on coming up with new menu ideas of your own, 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 leading nutritionist who said one Snickers pie in a lifetime would suffice, while another chef called it “horrible”.

Perhaps he should have stuck to birthday cake, which as the number one favorite children’s party food, remains the pièce de résistance we’re most likely to want to impress with. Another word of warning though: once you like the perfect cake, it’s a hard habit to break. Anne, a busy GP and mother from Wiltshire, started making cakes for her children’s birthday parties as a challenge to herself, having never baked before. She borrowed a book from the local library and asked her children to decide which cake they would like, a decision she regretted. She says; “With the girls now choosing more and 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, going out of your way 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 every year from her home in Devon to Choccywoccydoodle in London to buy her daughter’s birthday cake, a guilty pleasure she tells me she intends to give up. I’m not sure I believe you, Joanna!

Whether you plan to bake it yourself or travel to Paris to get it; there’s one thing about your birthday cake that’s almost definitely true. It’s meant to be cut into little pieces, wrapped in a napkin, and sent home in party bags along with a couple of plastic toys, balloons, and packets of candy. Or is that it? In the good old days, this would have been the norm. But not anymore. Children are becoming more demanding, and nowadays it is not uncommon to receive a Tamagotchi or even an iPod as a homecoming gift.

Perhaps that’s not the case in your neighborhood, but with the average cost of a UK party bag reaching the princely sum of £7.48, a new wave of parents are deciding enough is enough and shunning them altogether in favor. of more altruistic alternatives. Suggestions include making and decorating your own fairy cakes, taking a lucky dip, or hosting an activity-based party where kids take home the fruits of their labor. Others are opting for more ethical alternatives by offering gifts with “integrity.” A quick Google search will turn up various websites offering everything from fair trade handmade wooden toys to 100% recyclable party bags that are guaranteed not to end up in landfills. Friends of mine recently 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-compulsory donations to their favorite local charities. Veronica, one of the mums who hosted the party said, “I felt very strongly that since we were hosting a multiple party, we didn’t want the parents to feel the pressure of buying gifts for each of the children, plus the idea of spending all that money on party bags filled me with horror. So we talked to the kids about it and they decided they’d rather ask people to help rescue local dogs, cats and horses. We raised £170, and instead of party bags party, the charities we support gave us stickers and postcards for our guests to take home.Our kids didn’t feel like they had missed out in any way, and when the excitement of the party wore off completely, we They gave away special gifts. Tours of animal rescue centers. It was a great experience for everyone involved, and I’d love to see more people doing it.” I don’t think this is exactly what she had in mind though – one of the moms chatting on http://www.mumsnet.com recently recalled a party where each of the kids was sent home with a fish live gold.

And if you’re putting your feet up reading this, thanking your lucky stars that you get to escape all this madness for a few years because your baby is still happily nestled in the womb; she thinks again. Thanks to an old episode of Sex & The City in which Miranda was subjected to a baby shower, these are quickly becoming all the rage in the UK. Luckily, as a mom-to-be, you’re not expected to host the entire event, but you should look suitably appreciative (if not a little confused) when you’re presented with a diaper cake. No, it’s not edible; It looks like a wedding cake and is made up of two or more tiers of disposable nappies covered with useful baby items, wrapped in a huge cellophane bag and topped with a bow. “Whatever next!” I can hear my grandmother clicking her tongue.

One last word of warning: If just thinking about throwing your little one’s next birthday party is starting to give you hives, then maybe you should count your blessings while they’re still young. As each year goes by, it could get much worse; as the parents of 17-year-old Rachael Bell found out this year. While they were away on an Easter holiday, Rachael decided to organize her own “let’s smash the average family sized homemade disco party” by advertising to would-be revellers on MySpace, resulting in around £20,000 worth of damage. . Suddenly a few fingerprints in the paint and some trampled cake on the carpet doesn’t sound so bad.