An Arkansas mom opened up in a TikTok post about rethinking annual birthday parties for her kids and the reflective video is sparking a debate among parents about the tradition of hosting regular gatherings for young children.
"I think we've had it with kids' birthday parties," Hannah Winslow began in her March 24 post.
"Is this fun for anybody? Like, why are we doing this? I just added all that up and that was $718 for a mediocre, average, run-of-the-mill birthday party," Winslow continued, referring to a recent birthday party for her 6-year-old son.
Winslow, a mom of three, told "Good Morning America" she started throwing birthday parties for her daughter and two sons every year because she wanted to give them what she didn't have as a young girl.
"I grew up not having birthday parties every year ... and I remember feeling like, 'I really want a birthday party all the time. I want to do that for my kids,'" Winslow, 34, said.
But after several years, Winslow said the planning, cost and execution of hosting at least three birthday parties each year, about $700 each for an "average" party for approximately 15 people, had become underwhelming for her.
"I just became kind of disenchanted with it. It wasn't living up to my expectations. My children would have a good time but they have a good time doing mostly anything," Winslow said.
"The experience wasn't matching the dollar spent for me," she continued.
Other parents have weighed in on Winslow's TikTok post with some saying the effort of throwing a party is worth it while others agreed with Winslow that there can be better alternatives to group birthday parties.
"As a kid who never had a birthday party, and we could have afforded it, throw a damn birthday. it's important," wrote one commenter.
Another user said instead of birthday parties, their children get travel experiences instead.
"Both my kids get overwhelmed with birthday parties. We decided to do trips to the beach, aquarium, out of town and we've noticed they enjoy way more," the person commented.
Winslow said she has since discussed with her kids -- now 7, 6 and 2 -- other ways to celebrate their birthdays and they're interested in using the money they would've spent on a birthday party on other options, like traveling as a family.
"When I was telling them, 'This is how much it cost. Think of all the other things that we could do instead,' they got really excited about doing other things, doing a one-on-one trip with mom or doing something really special locally with just like one or two friends," Winslow said.
"We can take that birthday party money and spend it on something else, which is still creating memories," she added.
Winslow said although she doesn't regret throwing birthday parties for her kids and has had great experiences at them over the years, she hopes her video can show other parents that birthday parties don't have to be the be-all and end-all.
"In the future, I just want to give it more consideration and maybe have a discussion with my children, before we move forward each time," Winslow said.
"Do it because it's right for you. Don't do it because it's the default," she added.
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