{"id":9912,"date":"2009-03-30T17:15:24","date_gmt":"2009-03-30T17:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/momservations.wordpress.com\/2009\/03\/30\/the-birthday-bargaining-table"},"modified":"2009-03-30T17:15:24","modified_gmt":"2009-03-30T17:15:24","slug":"the-birthday-bargaining-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2009\/03\/30\/the-birthday-bargaining-table\/","title":{"rendered":"The Birthday Bargaining Table"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

I admit it. I peaked too soon. I came out of the gates too quickly. I’ve run out of gas; the novelty’s worn off; Elvis has left the building.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

It is an interesting turn of events that the older my children get, the less grand their birthday parties become. I find it terribly ironic for all the effort, time, energy and extravagance I invested to make my kids’ early birthdays memorable, they wouldn’t remember any of it if I hadn’t taken pictures for proof.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

?        <\/span>?        <\/span>?<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

My baby girl will be eight this weekend. (And yes, she’s accepted that even when she’s turning 38, I will still call her my baby girl.)<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

After some extended negotiations we came up with a birthday celebration that will meet both our needs and expectations. Whitney will have a sleep-over party with a few of her closest friends and a little roller skating thrown in at a nearby rink. Mommy and Daddy get credit for making turning eight seem to be the greatest accomplishment ever (as quickly and painlessly as possible). <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

It didn’t always used to be so simple.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Back in the day, I threw pre-school parties so over the top, three year-old Whitney once said, “It’s not your birthday until there’s a big, giant slide in the back yard.” <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Now, I try to convince my children how much fun only four friends can be for a sleep-over party: “It is so<\/em> cool to just chill over a bowl of popcorn and a movie before calling it a night – that’s what I did when I turned nine! And if you were the first one asleep and the last one up – then you were totally cool<\/em>.”<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Of course my son, Logan, wasn’t convinced of this until I threw in the bargaining chip of taking them to RPM Racing first. For Whitney it was night skating at King’s Skate. I got her to settle for afternoon skating if I made her favorite labor intensive meal of fried calamari. Deal. And everyone’s out by 10 a.m. if Daddy fries bacon to go with the pancakes. Done.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

So, gone are the days of reserving inflatable monstrosities months in advance; ordering 50 of everything in the theme pages of the Birthday Express catalog; organizing family assembly lines to work through the night putting together goodie-bags; pizza boxes stacked so high, if they fell on a kid you’d need a search and rescue dog to find them; Costco cakes so big they could be used as an air-craft carrier. <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

I have a feeling this current birthday celebration agreement will be short lived though. I’m thinking when the pre-teen years hit we’ll be going back to the bargaining table to renegotiate the definition of Way Cool Birthday Celebration.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

I just hope co-ed pool parties are concessions kept off the table for at least five more years.<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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