Extreme Birthday Parties

I love my kids and I love celebrating their birthdays. However, I’ve never been one to go over-the-top when it comes time to blow out the candles on their birthday cakes. So when a close friend was telling me about the party her 8-year-old son went to over the weekend, I about flipped.

My friend was greeted at the door by the mother hosting the party. The mother was wearing a rhinestone-emblazoned t-shirt with her son’s name across the chest. DILLON was splashed and sparkling front and center of her bosom. Of course she wanted to celebrate the day her darling son was born, but come on. Isn’t that a little ridiculous? Or am I the only mom who doesn’t have rhinestone shirts with my kids’ names on them?

Maybe that’s not totally off the wall “Toddler-and-Tiara-ish” but the next thing my friend told me blew me away. She asked me to guess the theme of this 8-year-old’s party. I’m thinking probably Spiderman or Batman, maybe Pirates or SpongeBob, right?

Not even close.

Money. Like as in this: $$$$

Yup. As in dollar signs, bills, hard cold cash. The green stuff. His cake was a hundred dollar bill. There were dollar sign balloons. The goody bags were bank bags. I asked my friend if there was real money in the goody bags because if you’re gonna talk the talk, then you sure as heck better walk the walk. No real money in the bags, but there were fake hundred dollar bills with the kid’s face plastered in the middle where the president’s face goes. There were huge hundred dollar bill posters decorating the walls. What does this tell the kids attending this party? That money is the only thing important, and if you don’t have enough of it, then you’re not good enough?

Have you ever been to an extreme party for a kid’s birthday? What do you think of what I’ve described here? I happen to think it’s obscene, and I don’t know what I would have done if I dropped my kid off at that house.

For tomorrow’s post, I’ll let you know how extreme I get for my own kids’ birthdays.