When I was a child, back in the days when my parents were the ones planning and hosting birthday parties and my sisters and I were the ones who got to enjoy it, birthdays were a bit different than what they are today. My grandma would bake a big chocolate
cake, topped with chocolate topping, not the chocolate frosting you would buy in the store that has mainly sugar and not more than traces of chocolate flavor, I am talking about a home made one, with real chocolate and butter and real heavy cream. I would help spread the chocolate and then, the highlight of any chocolate cake, spread the sprinkles. There was only one kind, these little ants like shapes that come in five (I think) basic colors. Actually, we also had brown and silver sprinkles but these were used for fancier events and most kids (including myself) liked the colorful ones anyway. For the birthday party itself you would usually invite your whole class and the kids would show up at your house for some music (from a tape recorder), snacks (chips, juice and the all times favorite chocolate cake) and some games. In my school we would usually wrap up friends with toilet paper (the first pair to successfully wrap from toes to head wins), compete who blows cotton balls faster and try to get a candle tied to our hips behind our backs fit into a bottle on the floor. We all had a great time at a VERY minimal cost (and some extra left over mess though). But ever since I was a child, standards are constantly on the raise. Hosting a birthday party at home is possible given that you thought the whole thing through and are ready to renovate your house afterwards or better yet leave it like that for the next party. Alternatively, you could rent some inflatables or get someone to do some activity with the kids or you can go by the Do it yourself route but given the high expectations that's quite a lot of pressure to deal with. Some parents deal with it very well, especially when the weather permits and the kids get to play in the back yard. Next on the agenda there's the food, chips - not enough anymore, in most cases it's pizza but I have also seen bagels with cream cheese and some fruits and vegetables, more expensive but a great and healthy alternative. And then the cake. On rare cases you get to see the good old chocolate cake... Nowadays it's usually something fancy, well decorated and shaped and in many cases unfortunately not as tasty as the old dated alternative.
I admit, I have been following these latest trends for several years. But one of my friends was brave enough to challenge the current main stream with the good old chocolate cake and the good old make it yourself games.
The kids had a BLAST, the cake was DELICIOUS and all gone within seconds, they all licked their fingers from the leftover of fresh home madechocolate topping and I was glad yet surprised to see that these old tricks still work. However, some of the parents' responses weren't as favorable as the kids' (as if that at all counts), as one of the mom questioned the ability of todays' kids to enjoy simple old fashioned activities and another mom thought it was only a budget issue. Well maybe we are the problem here, kids are kids, and with all the sophisticated and pricy games we all own and have in our homes, including mine, the number one game of all times is still an empty carton box! And if you ask the kids, that old-fashion birthday party was a huge success.
