Birthday Parties Have Changed

Attending birthday parties in your thirties are way different than attending in your twenties. Here are my top ten differences in birthday parties between the two decades.

1. The birthday parties in my 20's started at 9pm versus the current 11am start time.
2. The birthday parties ended with a last call as the lights flickered on and off and now they end about 2pm...just in time for you to make a trip to Home Depot or Bed Bath and Beyond and still get home to make dinner.
3. The parties back then were held in a local dive bar instead of a park.
4. The beverage of choice was whatever you purchased at the bar yourself where now drinks are provided for you in the form of bottled water or juice boxes.
5. The food offered back then was whatever drive-thru you stopped at on the way to the local dive bar (no friend in their 20's was going to provide food) where now in our 30's there is food provided at birthday parties.  BONUS!
6. The clothing of choice for a birthday party in my 20's was the tighter the better to get free drinks and now it's whatever is going to make you comfortable hanging out in a park.
7. The parting gift back then was a nice hangover in the morning and now the parting gift is a paper bag of goodies that you only receive if you are under the age of 12.
8. The birthday gift you would give to a friend was the worst shot (and cheapest of course) the bartender would come up with and now the gift giving consists of princesses or legos.
9. The entertainment at a birthday party in my 20's was a live band or people watching in the local dive bar while now the entertainment consists of watching kids in a bouncy castle or some creepy clown the parents hired.
10. The guest of honor was somewhere between the age of 21 (or 18 if you are in WI) and 30, but now the guest of honor is under four feet tall.

With all that said, Andy and I went to Ella's fourth birthday party this past weekend.  That is after we stopped at IKEA for a little home shopping...see number two listed above.  As we stood amongst the rest of the adults making random conversation, I looked around at my future (since I do have a bun in the oven)...and then thought of my past.  I was thinking how so much time has past and how my fun party days have changed.  When I was in my 20's the birthday parties mentioned above were a great time to me, but now being in a park on a beautiful Arizona Saturday celebrating my good friend's little girl's birthday party was a blast to me. That sounds more fun than over consuming in a local dive bar any time.