Last year I made one of my daughter’s ultimate dreams come true: Renting out the local children’s museum to host a humongo superduperschmooper safari-themed birthday bash for her and 30 of her closest friends.
Turning six never felt so good… or cost so much.
Now, my brother’s baby is just a few days away from celebrating a golden birthday and he too is in full party-prep mode.
Interestingly, he’s found himself in the same predicament I experienced during the countdown to Safari-a-rama. The venue is set, the head count is tallied, the decorations are done, the cake is ordered; all that’s left is finding goodies to fill the obligatory birthday swag bags.
And by goodies I mean a bunch of cheap crap that will probably break before your pint-sized guests get halfway home.
Only that cheap crap, which parents don’t even want in their homes, can add up pretty darn quick.
What is it with birthday party goodie bags anyway?
At what point in history did it become acceptable to say “thank you for coming to my party, bringing a gift and eating my cake,” with a bunch of flimsy plastic doodads and a bunch of cavity-causing candy?
More importantly, what message are we sending kids by showing them it’s standard practice to give a gift in exchange for one? Do children really need to get a present in return for their presence at some other kid’s birthday? What happened to “it’s better to give than receive”? And we wonder why today’s youth walk around with an aura of entitlement.
I firmly believe that kiddie party swag bags contribute to the “what’s in it for me” mentality many youngsters exhibit these days.
Yet, here I sit trying to help my brother come up with new and exciting treats to fill-up his son’s party bags. I proposed Fruit-by-the-Foot, Play-Doh and padded eye masks. The latter being a gift to parents so they have something to shield their eyes from the horror associated with the bag opening.
How do you feel about birthday party goodie bags?
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