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Hey guys, Januari's 1st birthday party is around the corner and while at Target the other night my husband said, "Hey babe, what are we going to do for Pooh's 1st birthday?" I told him that we would have to look at some things on line and make a decision based on prices. When we got home we logged into a few party places around the St. Louis area and since Januari is only turning 1 years old and can't walk our options are limited. We were blown away by some of the prices of kids birthday parties these days! Thinking that this bubble bus was a great idea since most kids loves bubbles we logged into the website where they bring this bubble bus over to your venue and he has about five bubble machines of all sorts and he basically plugs the machines in and they blow thousands of bubbles! I thought that it was a cool idea, that is until I looked at the price. The cost of this bubble bus is $250 an hour! So if my kids wanted to play in a bubble paradise for two hours it would cost me $500. In the day were gas prices are constantly soaring bringing the prices of every thing else up I don't think it would be smart to pay $250 an hour for bubbles!
Quickly we nixed that idea, so we move on to the next party idea. Since Januari is our last princess we decided to throw her a princess themed party. I'd heard a lot about this place in St. Louis that throws excellent 1st birthday parties so logging into their site I was amazed. The princess themed parties were beautiful, for $400 you get hand-cut princess gown invitations, princess gowns and accessories, glitter and make up, dancing, storytelling, games, crafts an a photo session with a royal coronation. Now if you want a tiara, princess t-shirt with each guest's name, themed cupcakes and bottled water, a CD of party images and princess thank you notes you have to shell out an additional $200. Lets not forget if you want the party at your home you have to pay $250. Oh and if you can't get Aunt Annie to dress up as a Princess and visit the kids, don't worry for an additional $60 you can get a princess for our party.
Next!
The popular bounce house is an exciting place for children ages 10 and under, my 3 and 6 year old boys love it, however why would I pay $400 for Januari to have her party at the bounce house when she can't even walk?
So I ask the question to my husband, whatever happened to cake and ice cream parties? Watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills where I saw where Taylor Armstrong spent over $60,000 on her daughter's birthday party; a party in which the daughter didn't even enjoy herself and didn't really want to participate. How can one justify that? Yeah, I know that she has the money to do it, well her husband has the money, but at the same time what is that teaching her daughter? I come from an age where if it was one of our birthdays mom and dad would get us a gift and we would have cake and ice cream with a few of our friends if not a birthday party at the local McDonalds for $100. We were lucky to get a balloon. After cake and ice cream we would take to the streets and play a game of kick ball, but we had fun and we appreciated it all. I was not scarred for life for not getting a Bentley for my birthday. Why does everything have to be so complicated?
My 17 year-old daughter use to watch the popular MTV show Sweet 16 where they showcased extravagant Sweet 16 birthday parties. You wouldn't imagine how much some parents spent on these whiny, snotty-nosed teenage girls birthday parties! Sometimes the price got up to over $300,000 for these girls with custom birthday cakes, extravagant invitations, two wardrobe changes and of course a luxury car for them to damage. One girl threw a fit because her father didn't want to get her the Range Rover that she wanted, another girl was pissed that she didn't get the custom dress that she wanted; of course at the end they both got their way, but that isn't the point. I'm telling you now there is nothing sweet about a 16 year-old and usually they don't get lavish birthday parties. When Ta`keyha turned 16 last year, she got a $40 cake baked by a local baker, she got a few balloons, some pink, black and white decorations and a purse, netbook and some clothes and it didn't cost me half a million dollars. She was more appreciative to have gotten less because it teaches our children that they are not entitled to everything that they want. I teach my kids to work for the things that they want instead of relying on mom and daddy to just hand them things because in the real world nothing is handed to us.
Back to Januari's 1st birthday party, after an exhausting online search for party ideas for my Pooh, we decided that we are going to bring back the era of the cake and ice cream birthday party. She will have a princess themed birthday party with a princess cake baked by the same local baker that baked my and my little sister's wedding cake, and my daughter's sweet sixteen cake, decorations will come from Party Magic and entertainment will be a story told by daddy and we will rent a bubble machine from the local party supply company. I'm not rich, I haven't written three bestsellers (yet) and I don't receive any advancements or royalty checks in the mail (yet) but what I am is a hard-working mother of six wonderful children who will grow up to know that life isn't about what you can buy, but it is about how doing your best and treating people right.
Quickly we nixed that idea, so we move on to the next party idea. Since Januari is our last princess we decided to throw her a princess themed party. I'd heard a lot about this place in St. Louis that throws excellent 1st birthday parties so logging into their site I was amazed. The princess themed parties were beautiful, for $400 you get hand-cut princess gown invitations, princess gowns and accessories, glitter and make up, dancing, storytelling, games, crafts an a photo session with a royal coronation. Now if you want a tiara, princess t-shirt with each guest's name, themed cupcakes and bottled water, a CD of party images and princess thank you notes you have to shell out an additional $200. Lets not forget if you want the party at your home you have to pay $250. Oh and if you can't get Aunt Annie to dress up as a Princess and visit the kids, don't worry for an additional $60 you can get a princess for our party.
Next!
The popular bounce house is an exciting place for children ages 10 and under, my 3 and 6 year old boys love it, however why would I pay $400 for Januari to have her party at the bounce house when she can't even walk?
So I ask the question to my husband, whatever happened to cake and ice cream parties? Watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills where I saw where Taylor Armstrong spent over $60,000 on her daughter's birthday party; a party in which the daughter didn't even enjoy herself and didn't really want to participate. How can one justify that? Yeah, I know that she has the money to do it, well her husband has the money, but at the same time what is that teaching her daughter? I come from an age where if it was one of our birthdays mom and dad would get us a gift and we would have cake and ice cream with a few of our friends if not a birthday party at the local McDonalds for $100. We were lucky to get a balloon. After cake and ice cream we would take to the streets and play a game of kick ball, but we had fun and we appreciated it all. I was not scarred for life for not getting a Bentley for my birthday. Why does everything have to be so complicated?
My 17 year-old daughter use to watch the popular MTV show Sweet 16 where they showcased extravagant Sweet 16 birthday parties. You wouldn't imagine how much some parents spent on these whiny, snotty-nosed teenage girls birthday parties! Sometimes the price got up to over $300,000 for these girls with custom birthday cakes, extravagant invitations, two wardrobe changes and of course a luxury car for them to damage. One girl threw a fit because her father didn't want to get her the Range Rover that she wanted, another girl was pissed that she didn't get the custom dress that she wanted; of course at the end they both got their way, but that isn't the point. I'm telling you now there is nothing sweet about a 16 year-old and usually they don't get lavish birthday parties. When Ta`keyha turned 16 last year, she got a $40 cake baked by a local baker, she got a few balloons, some pink, black and white decorations and a purse, netbook and some clothes and it didn't cost me half a million dollars. She was more appreciative to have gotten less because it teaches our children that they are not entitled to everything that they want. I teach my kids to work for the things that they want instead of relying on mom and daddy to just hand them things because in the real world nothing is handed to us.
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