parenting

I will grant "noon to ???" is offensive to parents who are going to have to deal with the aftermath (your child will be an overstimulated nightmare after a social outing lasting more than two hours).

I will, however, profess the hot take that the commenters (not necessarily OP) advancing the "just give them pizza and toys" position are treatbrained and setting their children up to be treatlerite consumptive libs.

I think it is good to offer unusual foods at parties because many children do not have the means or the social structures to find those foods at home. Exploring and developing their palate is how you avoid serving exclusively tendies and butter pasta to your 25 year old. Hummus is not caviar, it's baby food that's okay for adults. Fuck this salmon nonsense, though. :im-vegan:

QR codes are cringe, but a child who chooses to expand their ethical horizons one year instead of getting 12 perfunctory pieces of future landfill decoration is the kind of political action we're supposed to be encouraging. Besides, "cringe" is just the word we use to describe a person being sincere about a thing we're cynical about.

Personally, I could do with less of the "standard" birthday because it means I have to bring vegan stuff to every god damn one so that my child isn't "left out" of half of the experience. Better still if they've planned out some kid-centric activities so I can hang out with adults a couple of Saturdays a year and grouse about how annoying my favorite little person is instead of whatever I would otherwise be doing (chores, groceries, entertaining a child).

It also seems kind of fucked to complain about no booze at a children's party that presumably the parents of said children are meant to drive to and from, but I accept that drunk driving is the American disease (and maybe that part's jokey). 🤷