A hurricane of birthday party invitations has blown into our home, sucking up time but delivering Alexis a mountain of happiness. She has been enjoying attending one party after another after another for the past few months. If she's happy, I'm happy, so it has been a Very Good Thing.
Except.
There is a trend that seems to have infiltrated the pre-school sector. I don't get it. At all.
Is it just me, or is it nuts to have a registry for a 4 or 5-year olds birthday party?
Mind you, I am from the Land of Opposite of Birthday Registries. For Alexis' first real party, I asked people to bring canned goods for a donation to a local food bank in lieu of gifts. The guests didn't listen very well, which created some conflict when those who did listen felt bad for not showing up with a real gift. But, I did mean it. The kid didn't need a single thing. NOTHING. She was aware of the arrangement and that she shouldn't expect presents and was OK with it.
I didn't want to repeat the conflict this year, so I just let people do whatever. It. Was. Ridiculous. RIDICULOUS.
Alexis has played with maybe half of that stuff. The other half is just taking up space in a closet until the day comes when she's looking for something new to be the center of her world for a minute or two. I think it's safe to say I'm going to go back to a present-free sort of party next year, if I can figure out a way to make it not awkward.
Anyway, I know I'm all sorts of anti-ridiculous birthday gifts, but I just can't figure out a world in which it makes sense to let a 5-year old wander around a store and make a list of potential birthday gifts. Some of the registries I've seen have been mostly reasonable, but one had a long list of items that started at $50.
$50. $50!
The most expensive item on that list was $150, which, HAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, I'll get right on spending $150 on a gift for your kid. (Spoiler: I won't spend that much on my own kid.) Maybe they just did one list and also gave it to grandparents or whatever, but still. It was really hard not to ask what they were thinking with that list. It wasn't an over-the-top fancy party by any means, but the registry sure was.
Registry or not, Alexis thinks everyone wants a Barbie for their birthday. I'll just keep on letting her pick one out each time we are getting ready to go to a party.