I recently read this article about the rising extravagence of children’s birthday parties. The idea is that the phenomenon of “expenditure cascade” causes people to feel pressure to spend more and more because everyone else is doing it. 

I’ll admit that I almost hosted Henry’s upcoming birthday at Kiddie Acres because he would have had a blast and there’s a limited time frame in which he can have a party there, but we’re opting for another year of a birthday party at home. I worry that once we venture beyond our home for birthday parties, there’s no turning back!

It’s going to be a simple birthday party on our deck

We started a Holiday Countdown calendar a couple years ago, but now that we have young children, I want to add some additional activities that are more relevant to them (while also keeping it simple, since weeknights are already pretty hectic since we try to get everything done in time for a 6:30pm bedtime). Here are some things to add to our list:

Every year my mom asks for a list of things for the boys. I thought I would share this year’s list, in case you are trying to pull together something similar!