Party Plans are No Picnic

Friday, January 19, 2007

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Party Plans are No Picnic

By J’AMY PACHECO

Much has been written and said about the concept of growing old gracefully. What you don’t see is anybody talking or writing about the concept of growing older without spending a fortune on birthday parties.

I don’t recall having birthday parties of my own during my formative years. The closest thing I can remember is when my mom invited some of my pals over for my 16th birthday and we sat around talking about important high school stuff like football games, and the cars we were sure we’d never get.

I’m not sure how birthdays became such a big thing in my household. My daughter’s first birthday was pretty typical – the grandparents and our next-door neighbors came over for some finger foods and cake. I don’t think we did anything else notable for her birthday until my daughter turned five and actually had some pre-school friends to invite.

That year, we had a Barbie party. I bought ready-made Barbie invitations, Barbie plates and even a Barbie piñata. The whole thing was unbelievably simple – and cheap.

Fast forward to the year my daughter turned 7. She was in the middle of her first grade year, and wanted to have a luau. It was pretty easy, because a bonanza of luau stuff can be found at virtually any party store. As far as themed parties go, it was a good one.

The following year, we put on a fairy party. Since fairies are sort of our “thing,” we went all out. For an invitation, I printed an original poem on parchment, which we decorated with shooting stars and fairy stickers. Each was rolled, tied with gold cord and hand-delivered with a tiny golden fairy wand tied to it.

On party day, the girls arrived to find a fairy wonderland, right down to the table covered with faux pink rose petals. Unfortunately, those petals were instrumental in starting a reign of chaos, which began with petal throwing and ended with me deciding to be more selective in the guest department.

The fairy party was great, but it set a precedent of high expectation. So for birthday number nine, we decided on a ToonTown theme, and created our own version of the ToonTown Times newspaper to announce the event. Sounds simple, I know, but it involved dressing my child as a Disney ‘toon – complete with big hands and floppy ears – and photographing her inside ToonTown at Disneyland.

It was a great party.

Last year, my daughter wanted to do something REALLY cool and decided to throw one of her favorite movie heroes, Indiana Jones, into the mix. For invitations, we made our own version of the diary Indiana’s father created during his lifelong quest for the Holy Grail. A giant papier-mache boulder was hung from the top of our stairs, and cutouts of rats raced across our living room wall. My daughter dressed as a girl version of Indy, and we put skulls, golden coins and rubber snakes everywhere.

I have to admit, it was pretty good. And therein lies the problem.

Each year, her parties have become more interesting and elaborate. They’ve become more fun, too, but the bar definitely keeps going up. And birthday number 11 is right around the corner.

For weeks, we’ve been throwing around ideas for a birthday party. Commercially packaged parties are no longer an option; this party has to be unique. And cool. And fun.

No pressure there.

Many ideas have already been rejected as too plain, too girly, too complex or too overdone. Unless something changes, it looks like we’re in for an invasion of lost boys, fairies and pirates as Peter Pan takes over with a “Neverland” theme.

You’d think Neverland would be easy. You’ve got ships, rocks, trees, Indians, pirates, mermaids, fairies, pixie dust – what else could one possibly need for a party?

London, for one. My daughter begged me to set up our holiday-themed Dickens Village so Peter will have someplace over which to fly. But our London was sadly lacking an important landmark, so I soon found myself on eBay. Big Ben should be arriving any day.

This party idea has some potential, but I can easily see how our plans could get out of hand. I’m also beginning to see why Peter Pan didn’t want to grow up.

It’s not the responsibility, or even the prospect of old age. I think it’s the birthday parties.

With our track record, a pirate battle seems tame by comparison…