Kids' birthday parties

I'm hiding from my sister, and since we have dial-up, this is effective. And it's a slightly lighter topic than the education post over at Amy's or Rich's. And I'm going to use names, as there are no innocent to protect.

My sister has two sons, born in May and August. She has birthday parties for them. As in plural. She'll have a party at a local pizza place for lunch and then a barbecue that evening, and expects attendance at both. The lunch time place has recently gotten more elaborate; I was kind of waiting for pony rides, but it may stop short of that.

My brother, it seems, has gone to the other end of the spectrum. I don't know if there was anything for his son's second birthday. His daughter had a birthday last month and it was a day for his daughter, wife, and mother-in-law. Doesn't get much smaller than that. And frankly, I kind of admire it.

We grew up with immediate-family-only birthday parties. Sure, our first we had grandparents and neighbors and cousins, and somewhere along the way we had one with friends (I remember my cake--it had a doll in it, but the frosting was awful). But year after year? And the next card I get from an aunt or uncle for my birthday will be the first since toilet training, and I'm 35.

Now let me make a clean breast of it. We've had parties for our kids; the girls' have always been here at home (and the only relevant time, it was a dual party). You can do that in September. The Boy's have been at a local pizzeria, necessitated by February weather and the previously mentioned small house.

But I'm getting tired of it. I worry about having enough food, enough places for everyone to sit, people finding their way, the lunacy of cleaning house for people who see it annually. Will the kids all get along, and more stressfully, will the adults? And it's not like the kids need anything, either.

This is coming out because we went to the barbecue yesterday for my nephew and we really didn't want to go to the pool party today. We gave the gift, we sang the song, yadda yadda. He's turning four. Today was a weekday, we were all looking forward to a restful evening at home, I wasn't a candidate for swimming due to feminine concerns (ahem), Dale didn't feel like suiting up after a day at work, we just saw them yesterday.

But their car is out of commission with a cracked head gasket and their truck only transports 3. So they wanted a ride. I hedged and then didn't call back. I suppose I'm feeling guilty, but why should I?

Anyway. Any thoughts on birthday blowouts for the under-6 set? Madeleine is talking about a Princess Party, involving all of her classmates from preschool (only one of which we've seen since May), and that would be next month.