Party Like It's 1975

[photos found here and here]

Friends, I am here to call for a return to sanity in the kid birthday department! Now, I know there are all sorts of social and cultural trends that have turned kids' parties from a backyard affair with a homemade cake and a few friends wearing cone hats into a semi-professional event complete with bouncy castle, $10 goody bags, 40 guests and professional photographer.

But I'm rejecting all that. Yes, in planning for my own son's first birthday party at 3 years old, I'm planning a party like those from my own childhood: a handful of kids; snacks and cake; pin the tail on the donkey (or in this case, the wrench on Bob the Builder); balloons and streamers.

I understand we are all busy and a lot of us parents work outside the home. And Lord knows that between posting on Facebook what kind of sandwich we had for lunch to Tweeting our exact whereabouts every 40 minutes, there is little time to plan a party -- or clean up after one. It's easier to write a check and take it on over to the nearest Chuck E. Cheese. And, of course, we all love our children and want to create nice memories for them. I get it. I really do.

I'm sure one day we will be eating pizza and playing video games or jumping on giant inflatables with dozens of kids. But at least for this one year, I'm taking my love of retro and my desire to simplify in these economic times straight to the backyard, where we are gonna party like it's 1975.