We Survived Birthdaypalooza
Well, we had about twenty children in the house (if you count siblings) to celebrate Luke’s birthday and seem to have survived the experience. A few lessons learned:
- If there is a way to host a birthday party for under $600 and not MC it yourself, I’ve yet to discover it. We did not save a dime by having the fete in our home. On the plus side, our money did not go to some disgusting basement kiddy gym. And we didn’t spend $100,000 like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Instead, we hired the wondrous Gina Mascali of Little Cooks to run the event, who really deserves much more than the $450 she and her assistant billed for their services.
- I need to make my peace with the fact that I inherited the Jewish gene that gives its recipients a mortal fear of running out of food at large gatherings, causing them to buy such ridiculous amounts of groceries that entire bags of unopened victuals are discovered after the guests have gone home. We’ll be eating bagels for breakfast, lunch and dinner here for at least the next three days. On the plus side, several parents thanked me profusely for the spread, which also included cheese, bread, lox, chips and wine.
- When you replace a coffee maker that you lost in a bizarre kitchen accident (The cord got singed by a flame on the stove. Don’t ask how.), do not buy a used replacement for $6 at a Scarsdale church rummage sale. It will end very badly with hard to clean coffee granules all over the kitchen.
- Do not let children other than your own near the presents for at least 48 hours. It took exactly one hour for the birthday boy to accuse the four-year-old next door of stealing a new Power Ranger. As of presstime, the toy has not been found but the mother of the presumed guilty party believes it likely her son is indeed responsible and has offered to reimburse us for the cost of replacing the gift.
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About Helaine Olen
I am the voice of The Bills, a column about the intersection of money and life, at Slate. At Inc., I contribute to the Spread the Wealth personal finance column. My work on politics, economics, workplace culture and women’s issues has been published in numerous other print and on-line publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Salon, Pacific Standard, and The Los Angeles Times, where I wrote and edited the popular “Money Makeover” feature.
I'm the author of the critically acclaimed book Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry, and The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to be so Complicated, which I co-wrote with Harold Pollack.
What else? I’m a passionate bibliophile, a fan of 1970s pop music and a lover of rummage sales. I live in New York City.
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[…] The InfoWell wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt Well, we had about twenty children in the house (if you count siblings) to celebrate Luke’s birthday and seem to have survived the experience. A few lessons learned: If there is a way to host a birthday party for under $600 and not MC it yourself, I’ve yet to discover it. We did not save a dime by having the fete in our home. On the plus side, our money did not go to some disgusting basement kiddy gym. And we didn’t spend $100,000 like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Instead, we hired the wondro […]
[…] And we didn’t spend $100,000 like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes…. Source: We Survived Birthdaypalooza […]