I thought "chicken pox parties" were just something us crazy homeschoolers did. ;-) Actually, I've always thought they were a bad idea, and I was surprised when other moms I knew would go to them. But now I think maybe those moms had the right idea. I wish our eldest sons had caught chicken pox by now. Our eldest is turning 12 soon, so we're considering the vaccine before puberty sets in.
Wherever there are kids, moms, and chicken pox, there will always be ‘chicken pox’ parties. Unfortunately, they don’t always work - I even had my oldest SLEEP next to a kid who was in the prime infectious time and she ended up with three little pox on her back. Now she is in college and if and when she gets it now, it’s going to be bad.