I miss the innocence of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.

When I was a child, I had the best birthday parties. My mother would decorate the backyard with balloons, all the neighborhood kids and my cousins would come, we'd have cake and ice cream and all kinds of party favors (whistles, jacks, bubble gum, suckers, etc.), and we'd play games like pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and the farmer in the dell, and have relay races and other contests. And then there were presents to open. What fun, even though none of them probably cost more than two or three dollars. We usually got things like coloring books or story books, puzzles, those big boxes of Lifesavers that looked like books, bubble bath or play jewelry for the girls and toy cars or cap pistols for the boys.

It was a time of innocence. Parents now seem to think a party is not a success unless they've outdone all the other parents. Take Avery Seals at her 6th birthday. She and her friends were picked up in a pink stretch limousine. They were driven to a "pampering headquarters" where they spent two hours with stylists who applied makeup, painted their nails, did their hair in up-dos, and showed them how to strut down a runway. 

Then there's the story of the mother who maxed out her credit card for her son's first birthday. He slept through it. The little party favors from my era have given way to goodie bags filled with expensive toys. Vicki Messler of McKinney says "You feel like you have to invite everyone their age and go all out." Her oldest child is 5 years old. 

Tameka Jasper says she doesn't care if she can't afford it -- she wants her 3-year-old's party to be special. "I want my child to have the fond memories and experiences I didn't have." If Tameka's daughter is average, she won't even remember her 3rd birthday! 

Yes, I miss balloons and suckers and pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and most of all, common sense.

"The big business of birthdays." The Dallas Morning News; June 21, 2009; p. 1B.