Back To The Future- Parties

The latest bad news for parents and grandparents is out today in a story about Birthday Parties and how they have become the latest luxury that we can't afford.

The story states that we should ask those in our close family to buy gifts like swimming lessons or the like, items that we would normally pay for in order to help us afford the party, while allowing life to continue without worrying about other bills. The article even stated that some parents were going without clothes and cutting back on the weekly supermarket shop in order to afford the party that their wee one desired!!

 

What? Wait a minute is this really a story, surely not!! Sadly yes it is just check out yahoo.
I do not understand how such a story could come to pass, in days gone by- yes I know it's that rose tinted spec thing again- when I had hair and all my teeth we had parties that were well....parties. The parties were normally attended by every kid on the street and had the usual party food of cocktail sausages,sandwiches, sausage rolls, crisps and cake with as much orange squash as you could drink.

There would be laughter and games with prizes, not expensive prizes but prizes none the less! There was no need to spend hundreds of pounds to have fun and no need to have a party organiser in to ensure the wee ones had a good time!

A party organiser, now there is a job somebody invented for themselves, convincing us all we need one in order to have a successful party...for wee ones!!

 

Now call me old fashioned but surely over the last few generations we have not lost our ability to organise a wee ones party, have we really forgotten how to write a check list for sandwiches, sausage rolls, crisps, soft drinks and novelty prizes!! Can it be that we have forgotten how to play pass the parcel? Surely we have not lost the ability to manage our wee ones expectations to the point they could cause financial hardship for the family and further what about the future when the wee one grows up and has to live on the bread line how will they cope mentally when they can not afford everything they desire!

 

The best party organisers in the world are us the parents and grandparents, with the added advantage of we work for free!!
The best games in the world are not on the laptop or Xbox they are in our wee ones imagination, they are games that have been played for aye hundreds of years and again they are free!

As I have said before give a wee one some company and a game or two and some toys to play with you might not get the peace and quiet of silence but you will have some happy wee ones that will invent new games with what they are playing with.
Even in this day and age of busy busy work work, we surely have time for our wee ones birthday party. This is the age of the better connected after all.

So lets start a new trend of back to the future parties for wee ones, where the house is the venue, the party food is not a restaurant, fun and games are the entertainment and the only organiser on site is the parent/grandparents and parents of the children invited.

Then at the end of the day when the wee ones are in bed you can sit with a glass of your favourite tipple to relax, knowing you can afford the weekly shopping and no bills have went unpaid, but most importantly satisfaction that your wee one had a ball because you made it happen not some self appointed organiser!!