Last evening I attended my niece's 5th birthday. There were many little ones in that hall, everyone sugar rushed to say the least & generally having a frolicking time. When it was time to cut the cake all the little ones gathered around that cake like it was the last thing they were ever going to taste. It was a matter of seconds before the birthday girl had cut a piece & all the kids had torn up the lovely cake with their mothers looking on with delight.
It took me several years into the past when we would have birthday parties at home. Yes, we would have birthday parties at home! There would be a square shaped standard choc cake, with gems on it with a happy birthday message written very blandly. There would be wafers, chutney sandwiches, rasna or gold spot depending on our parents budget & mood, maybe samosas & a possibility of a home made pav bhajji. That was it. We would eat in paper plates and were expected to finish what we had on our plates. Even one morsel left, would translate into a one hour lecture about 'poor children eating out of garbage cans & we were the lucky few to actually have food in our plates'. I swear I would actually eat everything just out of sheer guilt. That habit stands today too.
Our entertainment was some English dance numbers, antakshari & maybe pin the donkey if our mothers found the time. We were atleast 10 kids in one room, left unsupervised by our parents, to just play & eat. I don't have any memory of anyone falling, getting injured, hurt or food poisoned till date. Our mothers would pick us up at designated times & we went home with a return gift the size of our palm. Even when we got birthday presents, we had to politely wait till everyone had left to open them. Back then we ate what was given & asking for second helping would mean a stern stare from our mothers where we almost stopped breathing.
Birthday Parties today are all about the parents more than the child. My friends (the girls parents) were busy catering to adult egos & children egos more than enjoying their daughter's birthday. I know that they other mothers would've scrutinized my friends choice in clothes, food, decorations, return gifts, the birthday girl's dress etc. Where back then we would be concerned about having a good time & had non competitive mothers, today the children are all engaged in one-up-man-ship with their peers at this tender age rather than just enjoying their childhood. I think it stems from parents wanting to outdo each other. Its a vicious cycle they keep perpetuating. No one wants to look like the parent who didn't take the effort. When we were kids our birthday parties were standard, uniformed & well lots of fun.
I really wish parents would ease up a bit & let their children be. Yes birthdays & other events are important, but so is growing up with ease. I hope these kids don't grow up before their time, because frankly there's no substitute for childhood.
It took me several years into the past when we would have birthday parties at home. Yes, we would have birthday parties at home! There would be a square shaped standard choc cake, with gems on it with a happy birthday message written very blandly. There would be wafers, chutney sandwiches, rasna or gold spot depending on our parents budget & mood, maybe samosas & a possibility of a home made pav bhajji. That was it. We would eat in paper plates and were expected to finish what we had on our plates. Even one morsel left, would translate into a one hour lecture about 'poor children eating out of garbage cans & we were the lucky few to actually have food in our plates'. I swear I would actually eat everything just out of sheer guilt. That habit stands today too.
Our entertainment was some English dance numbers, antakshari & maybe pin the donkey if our mothers found the time. We were atleast 10 kids in one room, left unsupervised by our parents, to just play & eat. I don't have any memory of anyone falling, getting injured, hurt or food poisoned till date. Our mothers would pick us up at designated times & we went home with a return gift the size of our palm. Even when we got birthday presents, we had to politely wait till everyone had left to open them. Back then we ate what was given & asking for second helping would mean a stern stare from our mothers where we almost stopped breathing.
Birthday Parties today are all about the parents more than the child. My friends (the girls parents) were busy catering to adult egos & children egos more than enjoying their daughter's birthday. I know that they other mothers would've scrutinized my friends choice in clothes, food, decorations, return gifts, the birthday girl's dress etc. Where back then we would be concerned about having a good time & had non competitive mothers, today the children are all engaged in one-up-man-ship with their peers at this tender age rather than just enjoying their childhood. I think it stems from parents wanting to outdo each other. Its a vicious cycle they keep perpetuating. No one wants to look like the parent who didn't take the effort. When we were kids our birthday parties were standard, uniformed & well lots of fun.
I really wish parents would ease up a bit & let their children be. Yes birthdays & other events are important, but so is growing up with ease. I hope these kids don't grow up before their time, because frankly there's no substitute for childhood.
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