I’m in the midst of birthday parties at the moment.
Every weekend is a haze of cake, bouncy castles, presents and party games as many of the children I know, including one of mine, become a year older.
This was my first year of ‘proper’ parties. Previous child birthday parties have mostly been about the parents pouring some well-earned bubbles, whilst the children played with the wrapping paper. But now the kiddies are getting older, party games are making an appearance – the most prominent being Pass The Parcel.
However, there has been a huge adjustment to the rules of this age-old game since I was a child … a shift which I’m quite overtly opposed to. Because when did we become so concerned about disappointing our children, that we now put a prize in every layer?
Rewind 20 (ish!) years, and I can still remember sitting eagerly in the circle watching the … Read the rest