Saving up for a kid's wedding birthday party

Fox News reports today that kids' birthday parties are out of control.

This is timely because just this week I called the Cedar Parks Parks Department to see about reserving a pavillion at the Brushy Creek Park for Caroline's 2nd birthday party (keep in mind, it is now January, and her birthday is the last day of May!). The Brushy Creek Park has a great sprinkler play area and a nice playgroup, so I thought it would be great for a hot, summer day. Reserving the pavillion costs $75. Not a deposit. That's the cost. And it is already booked for the Saturday after her birthday, but it is available on the day of her birthday. Doesn't matter -- I said no. I know that is paltry amount compared to what many pay for party locations, but Caroline is only going to be two! We have a really nice neighborhood pool, so we'll have her party there. For her first birthday, we went to the park and had cake. We invited many friends, and I think there were about 15 kids there, but half of those were relatives. We requested no gifts, and we gave out no goody bags. I think we'll go with tradition this year, though, with gifts and goody bags. And since I've been fed at most of the parties I've been to, we'll cook burgers and hot dogs as well as have cake. Simple compared to many, but more than the birthday parties of my childhood.

An interesting grass-roots movement has started in the Midwest -- Birthdays without Pressure. They have some nice ideas.