We no longer smoke on airplanes or perm our hair or let people drive with open Budweisers. So why in the world are we still giving out bags filled with sh%t to thank kids for coming to our children’s birthday parties?
Thank them for coming? Because why?
Because decades ago some overachiever decided that throwing a party, serving cake, and entertaining a horde of loud, sticky children wasn’t enough?
No! The party is more than enough! I’m putting my foot down. (And then I’m picking my foot back up. And then I’m putting it back down again. I’m actually stomping my foot because I feel really strongly about this.)
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
ENOUGH WITH THE CHEAP. ENOUGH WITH THE CRAP: Melissa Sher urges parents to stop giving away goodie bags at children's parties:
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I didn't hand out goodie bags at the last kid party I threw and one kid told me it was the worst party she had ever attended.
ReplyDeleteI'd be tempted to reply, "Well, you're the worse kid I've ever encountered. So neener neener neener."
ReplyDeleteNot quite timely enough to inform our planning for the bat mitzvah party this weekend....but I wholeheartedly agree.
ReplyDeleteJust let the kids watch a rated-R movie . .. the other kids will think your kid has the coolest parents, boosting his/her social status, and none of the other parents will let their kids come to your house again, saving you time and money.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that smoking, drunk driving, or hair care are the best examples -- two are dangerous, and maybe people should their perm hair anymore.
We forgot to do goody bags some years ago. I was worried, but Mrs. Earthling said that maybe no one would notice. No one did. Haven't gone back. And it seems to be trending away in our little berg.
ReplyDeleteThe only exception to this is most pool-focused summer birthday parties do tend to involve a fresh bag of take-home squirt guns, but that's perfectly cool.
Goodie BAGS?
ReplyDeleteBack in my day we gave out party FAVORS. A thing. One thing. Like, A sheet of stickers or A Sanrio pencil or A pair of silly sunglasses.
We don't do goodie bags and no one has ever seemed to care at all. If we do a sleepover and kids are staying into the morning I'll usually have a craft or baking project the kids can take home, but that's more sanity-preservation on my end than kid-bribery.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'd say with the folks we know the big goody bag full of dollar-store/Target stuff is uncommon and party favors are maybe 50-50 but getting less common every year (finishing up third grade).
ReplyDeleteSounds like that kid needed the lesson in expectations and entitlement.
ReplyDeleteThat time I went to a friend's birthday party and his parents took us to see Stripes was the greatest. And there was no goody bag.
ReplyDeleteBENNER! You just used the "positive anymore" construction! This is so exciting! (I'd never heard it until a few years ago, and it still baffles me - it's just not the way I've ever used "anymore.")
ReplyDeleteUbiquitous here. I actually prefer the ones full of candy, because that gets eaten and doesn't clutter my house for all eternity.
ReplyDeleteI hate tiny plastic crap - and we get bags full of it after every birthday party. I try to be different by giving out a book that's somehow tied into the party theme, but that can get expensive if the guest list is long. I wouldn't mind a bit if the goody bag "tradition" faded away...
ReplyDeleteAt my cousin's wedding, my aunt handed me a recipe she had just written on the Little Mermaid notepad my cousin got in my 8th birthday party goodie bag. Goodie bags are forever. When hoarding runs in the family.
ReplyDeleteJust a sheet of stickers would be absolutely perfect if you ask me.
Mazel tov!
ReplyDelete