Some of you may remember your 16th birthday. You may have been allowed to have some friends come over, have supper and do stupid stuff until your parents told you knock it off for the night.
I think for my 16th birthday my parents took me to my favorite restaurant on the Seattle Waterfront, Ivar's Acres of Clams, and reminded me to put gas in the car every so often. I dont't think they spent over $100 on that meal. I was happy with that.
Last week, I came across a show on MTV called My Super Sweet 16. This show smacks of teen angst mixed with overweening hubris. (Go to www.m-w.com for definitions.)Honestly,what sane parent would allow their 16 year-old to throw a budgetless birthday bash at a five-star hotel while parading around as a princess with an $8,000 Versace tiara, circa 17th century Venetian style dress and a "court" consisting of her "friends"? Or what levelheaded mother and father rent a city's civic center for her to invite 500 kids from her school and the girl makes her grand appearance via a magician's magic trick? Not this parent.
I love my kids dearly, but they do NOT need to have a $300,000 party to celebrate their birthday. Yes, one of those parties cost in the neighborhood of $300,000. I can think of far more constructive ways to spend that kind of money on, say, a house, save for my kids' college education etc... I don't think I would spend $300 on my children's birthday parties. The only time I will for sure spend over $1,000 on a party for my kids is for when they get married.
Am I a cheapskate? No, I love my kids enough so they don't develop an overweening hubris about them.
