I can't believe February is at an end. We are still recovering from birthday week at our house ... 7 days in which our daughter Kelly (6), son Anton (3) and both grandfathers have their birthdays, capped off by Valentine's Day. This is the second most challenging time of the year for us, second only to the Holidays themselves. This doesn't mean five celebrations (one for each event), it means a celebration at each school, each activity, and at home. Last count included five birthday parties, three birthday dinners, and three Valentine's parties. Needless to say, by the time we got to Valentine's Day, we were exhausted and not feeling super-romantic.

But, I think it went well! Instead of elaborate three and six year old birthday parties with all the invitations, guests, goodie-bags, decorations, and food, we decided to go for off-site events. We took Kelly and her three best girlfriends to see the touring Broadway show of High School Musical. We sat in the nosebleed seats and ate HSM cookies that I smuggled into the theatre, and it was just about perfect. Seeing all four girls jumping up and down and singing with the grand finale was priceless!

For Anton, we have had an entirely different focus on birthdays and holidays than we did with our first child (admittedly). Instead of a Little Gym or Pump It Up party for 20 of his closest "friends", followed by goodie bags of sweets and plastic toys, we decided to take a family outing to the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Anton had the time of his life. Don't worry, he will eventually get a 'real' birthday party, but this was just perfect for his age.

I could write for hours about birthday celebrations. While they are an important and personal milestone in our home, it seems to me that they have gotten completely out of hand. Have you seen 'MTV's Sweet Sixteen'? While it is like a car crash that I can't take my eyes off, I am scared for when my kids start seeing these half-million dollar birthday parties. Is this really the standard we want to set for our children? Not to mention that I couldn't afford the six-figure price tag  what does it say when a child is disappointed that their birthday party doesn't live up to the one they saw thrown by a celebrity or a celebrity-wanna-be parent?

I have a few more years before we get there, but the messages I send today will set the tone for the future. So, while it wouldn't kill me to have elaborate goodie bags at my child's party, I just don't want to start down that path.