wow. that is amazing! i am shocked. my husband and i went overboard for our kids bdays, not in expense but in time and talent. just so you know, mine are now 22, 19 and 16. But when they were little up until probably 10 yo or so we did themed parties. Alice in Wonderland [a friend of our’s dressed up like alice with a costume from a costume store], Winnie the Pooh [my husband rented the bear costume] i made character ears out of felt and girls plastic headbands for Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and Pooh, one for each kid. i did little hunny pots with candy as party favors. Madeline partu, i painted straw hats yellow and put black ribbons on them for all of the girls and did BAD HATS for the boys out of black felt. so yeah, we were pretty overboard but i enjoyed the heck out of it. When they got older they wanted Laser Tag parties or pool parties [the youngest has a july bday] which were far easier for me, but less fun. Chickfila platter, cut up fruit platter, chips and dip, and you are good to go! i feel sad for the bday child you described. Terrible to be an afterthought in your parents lives.
we have our daughters birthday in April and the themed party sounds good so I hope you do not mind if we take your idea.
we’ve always put time and effort into their parties as money is tight, we play games, dress up for daiughters party etc.
Sounds like you raised wonderful children and your good parents , if only everyone else spent the time.
The lady who had the party told us that she is happy MO is dong what she is as she can;t be bothered doing their lunch and is happy the schools will now give them healthier food.
Just what is wrong with some parents today I don’;t know but knowing there are parents like yourselves restores my faith for the future of our country and kids.