Tooth fairy: ‘Times are tough, kiddo’
"But Mommy, you promised there'd be live entertainment." Image by yewenyi via Flickr
The other week, we attended a neighbor kid’s birthday party. It was a blow-out affair at an indoor play space with a space theme. There was a high-tech arcade, a mini bowling alley, even a little choo-choo train. The hosts had sushi and wraps for the grown-ups. A deejay blared Hannah Montana, a troupe of assistants directed a freeze dance, and everyone got sparkly cowboy hats and shades.
It may be the last fancy party we’ll attend in a while. The AP reports today that around the country, parents are cutting back on expenditures for their kids.
In 2008, sales of toys fell 3 percent to $21.6 billion from the previous year. Children’s clothing fell 2.2 percent to $36.8 billion, according to the research firm NPD Group.
Elsewhere in the country,
At RockNfun Music in Falls Church, Va., the number of people, mostly children, taking guitar, piano and other lessons has fallen 5 to 10 percent in the past four months, co-owner Kevin Glass said.
Paul Feciura, owner of Youth Sports, Virginia Training Center Inc. in Woodbridge, Va., said business has dropped 15 to 20 percent since last summer — even though the Beijing Olympics should have provided a boost. The company is trying to accommodate some hard-hit parents by reducing rates.
Then there’s this telling marker:
As for the Tooth Fairy, the average pillow payout is now $1.88, down from $2.09 last year, according to a recent survey by DeCare Dental, a Minnesota-based benefits management company.
But here’s what I think. As an unemployed mom who just bought $87 tickets for a four-year-old’s first Broadway show, I think American parents will continue to splurge on their kids—just selectively. We’ll save up for big-ticket items and cut back on the little things (Easter dresses look just as nice second-hand). We’ll cut way back on our own luxuries before we deny our tweety birds.
Anyway, what the hell kind of demented tooth fairy leaves a pile of change under a child’s pillow?
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It’s just about choices- and putting the kids’ interests ahead of your own. Are kids really enriched more from those all-out kiddie birthday bashes, or is it just to prop up the parents’ egos? Weren’t our current economic problems caused by our overblown sense of entitlement?
My son had two very loose teeth last week, but he waited to try to get them out until the night before Easter. He envisioned a magical joint effort made by the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy that would result in more loot (namely the Nintendo DS he’s been craving since forever). The teeth didn’t cooperate, and they didn’t fall out until after Easter. No DS under the pillow, but TF left a nice note saying, “Your dreams will come true if you just wait.” How long he waits is a question for someone much bigger than me. His name is Santa.
I agree with you! Parents will deny themselves before they deny their children.
Still – I’ve often thought too many modern day parents go completely overboard with birthday parties. Especially with first birthdays … like the kid is gonna remember ANY of it?
Its as though the parties are more for the PARENTS.
Kid parties are definitely for the grown-ups, but I disagree that it’s about showing off. I think it’s to do with this weird and stressful cycle of payback: you get invited to other families’ parties where they clearly spent a ton of money and energy to entertain your kids, so you’ve got to do your part at some point. My mom, a consummate party hostess, would plan dinner parties simply because “it’s our turn.” I don’t think that’s a bad thing, unless kids start to think they *need* a $100-an-hour clown because Jenny and Sarah had one.
In response to another comment. See in context »“$100-an-hour-clown” just sounds weird.
You make a good point about many parents feeling obligated because its “their turn”. We recently decided to have a small family gathering for our son’s first birthday, but we did feel at first as though it was our turn on the “party circuit”.
What type of parent chintzes out on a tooth fairy payment? The next time they tip a waiter anything more than a buck, I hope they wonder why they’d rather give the money to a stranger rather than their own child.
I am happy that I have predicted recession and never got any child.
Oh, my friend, no…you can’t time the market, and you can’t time your life around the market. There are lots of reasons not to have kids, but a recession’s not one of them.
In response to another comment. See in context »