Birthday Party Madness
I was NOT going to stuff the goodie bags at my kids' birthday parties with all kinds of pointless junk that would soon after land up in a waste dump in New Jersey. I was NOT going to add to the crass consumerism. I was not going to get caught up in the birthday competition.
In the interest of the conserving the earth (and my bank account), I was going to buy just one well-chosen item, hopefully one with some meaning attached, and that would be it.
I had briefly considered following in a friend's footsteps--she gives "adopt-a-whale" cards from a conservation group. But I couldn't find the information for the group, and with less than a week until the birthday party, I decided I would just run to the story today with my daughter and pick something up.
Somehow I came home with bags filled with junk and junk food. Nail polish. Lip gloss that tastes like candy. Pop tarts (how did I get roped into that?) And of course, actual candy.
Why? Because standing in that superstore with my daughter, my main driving motivation was to have her have the best birthday ever.
Isn't that why most parents buy all the silly stuff we buy for our kids? Isn't that why kids' birthday parties have become Events, and goodie bags de riguer? Why we spend hundreds of dollars going to overcrowded theme parks, waiting on long lines for two minute, $20 rides that are promptly forgotten and only seem to stoke more needs/wants?
In truth, the pressure isn't all coming from the kids. After we loaded the bags in the car and buckled our seat belts, and my daughter was rummaging through the bags, admiring the booty, she said: Thanks mom! You didn't need to buy all this stuff!
Oh well, there's always June, when my youngest has her birthday.
Stumble It!
posted by pam at 4:33 PM
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