Once upon a time a birthday party consisted of having friends back for tea after school. It was a special kind of high tea with cake, sandwiches, sausage rolls, cheese and pineapple sticks and cocktail sausages. There were crisps, twiglets, jelly and ice cream and a birthday cake. Everyone played games, gave you a card and a present and were then sent packing with a piece of cake if they hadn’t had any into the early hours of the evening?
Oh how times have changed! Without meaning to sound like a miserable old git who had it better when he were a lad I struggle to get to grips with current ideas regarding Birthday Parties.
My 12 year old daughter’s recent birthday took on the scale of a three day event! First there was the ice skating trip, followed by a sleepover for 6 pre teen girls. Next day was the family lunch etc and the day of her birthday itself another trip out this time with a carefully chosen friend for a meal in Brighton. For the first time the party didn’t involve the giving of party bags. Previous years have seen agonising decisions over their contents.
There is now a whole industry dedicated to the provision of tat in a bag at the end of a party which I can only imagine to be the 21st century child’s version of party favours. I see little point in an exercise designed to show nothing more than largesse and another opportunity to suffer the “keep up with the Joneses” angst that we face on an everyday basis.
Party bags are just another example of a badge we need to wear to let the world know how special we are when we would all be far better off and far better thought of actually being nice to others rather than trying to buy their “party” favour.
So next time we’re offered a party bag will we turn it down? Will we heck! And by the way it’s the cat’s birthday coming up next. Do you think there’s a feline version of the Hawkins Bazaar catalogue?
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