When celebrating a child’s birthday, several dilemmas arise that become almost more relevant than the celebration itself. And we must not forget that this day is celebrated to become aware of the importance of continuing to grow, of having another year. But the way in which an anniversary is commemorated has evolved a lot in recent years: while a few decades ago it was customary to gather several children together for a snack at home on an ordinary afternoon, today these parties have become a competition between parents where social pressure is very present and no one wants to be less than the others.
Birthday parties are more about overcoming the previous event than the values of celebrating the day you were born, making it almost an obligation to prepare perfect, magazine-worthy events.
There are several aspects why birthdays have lost the values they had, and it would be interesting and necessary to take them back into consideration:
- The cost of an event of this magnitude is no longer assessed. Today’s birthdays involve many expenses that just a few decades ago were not included, such as gifts to guests, themed decorations or the rental of a space and entertainment for the event.
- On the other hand, sensory overstimulation can be very high and counterproductive for children, as the excess of activity and expectations can overwhelm them. During your party, the minor must be present in a thousand aspects at the same time – receiving guests, carrying out all the proposed activities, posing for photographs, opening gifts, blowing out candles, smiling – forgetting what is truly essential in that moment, which is having fun and having fun.
It is normal that, both in schools – or at the end of the school day – and at parties, the protagonist gives something to classmates and guests, that is, he is the one who gives one or more gifts. In many cases these gifts are even personalized, so it is no longer the classic bag of sweets, but now it is the family, together with the child, who creates a bag to give to each guest with all kinds of sweets. gadgets and accessories, each more original. They range from stationery materials – erasers, pencils, stickers, pens or notebooks – to classic sweets – although less and less so, because children are avoiding sugary foods – up to small toys or accessories to encourage fun, such as yo-yos, spinning tops, blackboards, puzzles.
As for the gift that the guests give to the child, the most common solution is to buy a gift together or bring a gift each, and you can receive dozens of packages with everything this entails for the child. It is necessary to manage this part consistently so as not to fill the child with useless objects that end up in a drawer, lost, unused, without giving them value.
Celebrating a birthday also means thinking about and choosing a specific theme every year, that is, every year the child will have a personalized event, without repeating the theme on any occasion. It’s about decorating the space around said motif, making the place unique and special, with balloons, glasses, plates, napkins, tablecloths, cakes and foods decorated with the same theme. This can also lead to guests having to follow a dress code in order to attend said celebration, having to be dressed as required. There are those who also hire entertainers, such as magicians, princesses, clowns or instructors, who create games, dances and workshops.
With all this, children’s parties have practically become small weddings, which tend to make us forget the true meaning of what celebrating a birthday means. Perhaps, letting ourselves be carried away by the environment, fashions and society, we tend to follow a model of celebration that doesn’t even make the child happy, forgetting to ask him what he would like to do on his day and who he would like to celebrate it with. You may find yourself wanting to have a snack at home or a picnic in the park with some friends and family, instead of a big party full of activities and decorations.
