Ending the birthday party arms race
Reports The Associated Press:
Having decided on a ballerina theme for her daughter’s sixth birthday party, Michelle West drove all over to find little dancers for the cake. Then she put 50 little beefeater guards around the edges. And she gave it beautiful white icing with peppermint trim.
And what happened? The kids wouldn’t eat it.
It wasn’t long afterward that she joined a group of St. Paul parents determined to end the birthday party arms race.
Birthdays Without Pressure is taking aim at the oneupsmanship that drives moms and dads to throw parties that will really, really impress the kids and the other parents, too.
“We feel there’s a kind of cultural runaway going on right now around the birthday parties of kids,” said William Doherty, a University of Minnesota professor of family social science who had a hand in organizing the group, launched publicly earlier this month.
Birthdays Without Pressure has started a Web site and launched a media campaign.