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Eric Pfeiffer
March 04, 2025
Kids birthday party culture is definitely having a moment in the public discourse. For one thing, parties have become outrageously expensive. Renting a lane at the bowling alley and getting some pizza for a dozen kids used to be the cheap party. Now that same experience will probably run $500 or more. If you tack on custom desserts (and not a Costco sheet cake), goodie bags, and a premium venue like a trampoline park or arcade, you could be looking at a bill of close to $1000! That's madness!
RSVP etiquette is in crisis, too. Social media is rife with stories of no one RSVPing, RSVPers no-showing on the day, and others sorts of rude or bizarre behavior from parents that turns parties sour and, sadly, ruin kids' birthdays.
One dad's recent story of a birthday party gone horribly wrong, though, definitely takes the cake.
There are countless reasons why having the ability to talk about your feelings is great for your mental health. One of the big ones is that discussing feelings helps us understand them better. It also prevents us from bottling up our emotions, which can lead to anxiety, depression, and unplanned emotional outburts, which can be incredibly destructive.
The problem is that at a young age, boys are told to bottle up their emotions, and they are frequently told that “boys don’t cry” or that they should “take it like a man” when they become upset. When men are faced with tremendous grief, such as the death of a friend or family member, they feel that they must “be strong” and show a brave face even though they might be dying inside. This can prevent them from ever completely coming to grips with their loss.
Vimbai Kapurura is the Executive Director of Women Unlimited, a grassroots women’s rights organization working to promote the rights and leadership of women, girls, and marginalized groups in Eswatini and southern Africa. With support from the Rapid Response Window of the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), she’s advocating to have more female voices in national peace building spaces to ensure women’s rights and demands are included.
Before she was Glinda the Good Witch, before she was a Grammy-winning music sensation, Ariana Grande-Butera was just a girl from Florida with huge dreams. After a quick stint in a Broadway musical, by the age of 15, she was part of the Nickelodeon world, beloved for her role as Cat Valentine in Victorious and it's spin-off Sam & Cat.
After a lot of hard work debuting her first album, the rest is history. But every so often, a picture or video of a teenage Ariana makes the rounds, and the internet goes wild. This time, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have revived an old clip of a 16-year-old Ariana singing "Happy Birthday" to customers at a Chili's restaurant.
It’s crazy to think about how, as an adult, we’d give damn near anything just to be able to take a nap, and yet when we’re kids it’s tantamount to a death sentence. Some kiddos fight, others whine, and still others scream a protest with all their might against an afternoon snooze for fear of missing out on the world around them…even though missing said nap is a surefire way for them to be in a foul mood later. Not to mention naps are vital for their mental development. But try telling that to a toddler who’s had their first taste of FOMO.
So how do parents coax kids into getting some midday rest? One mom swears by going the capitalistic route—with cold hard cash.