The Donkeys Have No Tails

I love birthdays. You get a cake. And presents. And, everyone sings a song with your name in it. There are games and choreographed routines. Wait? Choreographed routines? What?! My birthday parties were a covey of preteen girls, giggling well into the night about who was cuter, Kirk Cameron or Mark- Paul Gosselaar. We watched "Harry and the Henderson's," played in the sprinkler in the yard, and ate chocolate cake.  One year, I decorated the house myself--with aluminum foil bows and streamers (thanks to my mom for letting be creative).

When I was two, I had a Raggedy Ann cake, and lots of love from my grandparents:

I went cake diving in a flurry of ruffles. There were balloons. We played games like pin-the-tail on the donkey. And, I shared my cake blessings with friends (in particular my now hubby in a darling sailor suit):

My third birthday was much of the same: toddlers cake diving, some shaking of homemade pompoms, fruit punch, and everyone went home sugared and happy:

Yesterday, R.J. went to a nowadays toddler party. Two grown women catered to the toddling tiara- wearer. They sang songs (plural) with her name in them. We all (grown-ups too) participated in a parade in her honor--bells jingling and shakers shaking. At gift time, the "hostesses" kept a list of gifts and givers. The kids played for two hours on trampolines, slides, and bouncers. They choreographed a routine with ribbons:

No doubt, the toddlers had fun, and I suspect some of the parents did too. I enjoyed seeing R.J. boogie down, and I even enjoyed his opinion of the cake (not just this particular cake, but cake in general, but that's a story for another day): 

But, no one pinned the tail on a donkey.  So, my question is this--How can we turn back the clock and save the donkeys? If we do this much for a toddler party, what on earth do we do for weddings? Or graduations? Or confirmations? I love my little boy, but I question whether it's really necessary to spent $200 on a facility rental for a two-year old.  As much as I can remember, cake with frosting and homemade pompoms was more than enough--even in my teens, I remember my parties because of the time I spent with my friends. Giggling at my dad because he had to vacuum the confetti while I herded the gigglers outside. Cake, ice cream, and Dr. Pepper.

I want my wee one to feel like he's important and loved on his birthday. And, he will. Be it balloons with grandparents, slumber parties with movies and popcorn, or a day at the park.  A greater concern then, is while the bears are being built, the routines choreographed, and the parades parading, who will take care of those poor tail-less donkeys? I suspect I will take up their cause at R.J.'s third birthday party.