Word: birthday
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Professor William Doherty, a social science professor at the University of Minnesota, aims to make parents' lives easier. Doherty, who, six years ago coined the term "overscheduled kids" and led a movement to have family nights at home, is launching a similar campaign against over-the-top birthday parties...
...website birthdayswithoutpressure.org, hoping that by naming the problem, and giving parents a forum, he can help parents ratchet down the expectations and change the social norms. When Doherty was giving lectures on overscheduling kids, he heard parents grumbling about birthday parties and goody bags. It really touched a nerve after he had his first grandchild. His daughter told him that by the time her son was six months old, people were already asking what the theme of her son's first birthday would...
...parents feel these parties are stress-inducing. Beth Fisher didn't mind renting out a fire truck to give the guests rides around a Los Angeles neighborhood for her fireman-loving son's third birthday. "It wasn't expensive, and I have great memories of the event," she says...
...then after pizza and a clown, made their own toy dolls, Lego trains and balloon sculptures, all in the span of a couple of hours. "The kids didn't have a chance to take in what they were there for," she says, "which was to celebrate their friend's birthday...
...industry has grown up around birthday parties for the younger set. Greeting card company Hallmark estimates that people spend over $600 million on kids' cards, gift-wrap and partyware every year. Companies like Libby Lu have make-over parties, Build-A-Bear stores have private party rooms and there's even a museum that allows kids to dissect sheep's eyeballs. It can cost from $500 to $1,000 to hold a party at one of these venues - or $38,000 if you want to rent out famed toy store FAO Schwartz for a sleepover...