BIRTHDAYS...

Call me old fashioned, control freak, ridiculous or whatever the hell you want but I hate birthday parties and specially kids' birthday parties. I was skeptical about having kids with one of the reasons being the need to attend birthday parties and when last week I went to see play schools for A, I asked them what kind of B-day celebrations do they allow in their school. No kidding, that's my criteria for school selection. 

Before baby, my aversion to such parties was because I found them boring but after A, the aversion increased many folds drawing my attention to many different reasons.

• Reason to party; we host these parties for the joy of our little ones (actually really little ones, I am talking about) who seem to cry more that day than they did the day they were born! And if we are doing it to celebrate our parenthood, still those little ones are at lose. The crackers, overengaging crowd, screaming children, all that is quite unpleasant for them. 
• The cake; with the fondant, bright and unnatural colors and edible stickers..!! Why is that even legal!!
• The gifts; of course those are to be passed on to someone celebrating their birthdays in the coming months. And the return gifts as chocolates, chips and plastic toys..!! Can't these formalities be skipped for the sake of children's health and parent's sanity..!! 
• The menu; it is well thought of and "kid friendly" as they put it. Mostly white sauce pasta, sandwiches and fries. Seriously, is that kid friendly..!!?? 
• The games (which now a days is "entertainment" with anchors, who sometimes forget to filter their speeches considering the number of kids present) ; but mostly the balloons used for decorations are the star of such parties. All the kids, tiniest to tallest can be found playing with them. 

Do we really need such celebrations!?
"Oh shut up you nazist, kids love them and it's for them" people argue. No, kids love them because we introduced just that one way of celebration. I bet if given a chance to play in the dirt, roll all day with puppies or climb, jump, discover wonders nature has to offer ; none of the kids would opt for "party". It's not their concept of celebration anyways, it's their inheritance.
I am not saying that amendments should be passed in the constitution to ban the birthday parties. I am not a Hitler. All I want to say is that, if we cannot avoid having them (Indian family/social scenario), let's make them a little indigenous, sensible and sensitive rather than a business of show and pomp about who brought a better theme to the floor. Shall we?
Make cakes out of seasonal halwas or bake healthier earthen cakes at home involving the birthday girl/boy, milkshakes or serbets instead of coke floats and frootis, ladoos in place of cupcakes, pulao in place of pasta and open ground venues instead of marbled halls.
Had read somewhere that the number of children you invite for your child's birthday should be equal to their age. Such a brilliant thought! At two, A does not really like being with same aged kids but loves dancing and jumping around with his elder cousins. And the most active time of the day for him is the evening, so I made up plans to call over his cousins for an hour in the evening, put on the music and let him decide the rest. And as he grows to an age where he can marvel different experiences and remember them, we would change the way we celebrate his growth by offering him bountiful of experiences.
If we consider every moment as an opportunity to teach our child valuable lessons then this one is a big one to teach them modesty, genuinity and what and how to celebrate.