Simplicity, are you gone?

In my conversation with a 9 year old on this past Friday, she just oophed and said, "Oh I am attending yet another birthday party tonight, and that is at Burj Khalifa". All I could do was watch with a jaw reaching down my knee.

Quite a few things surprised me actually. Firstly, as per the new trends, 9-year olds no longer celebrate their birthdays in Mcds, they just do it in Burj Khalifa, or something of that standard.

And the second, she oh-ed about it as dressing up and attending parties was like a burden loaded on her little back.

I know I would probably come across as a 60-year old grandmom with my statements of 'In my times.......'. But seriously.... "In my times, it was waaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy simpler." Birthdays were fun and jolly affairs. We bought the 20dhms pack of invitation cards with cinderella, goofy or a bear on them. We gifted simple stuff like perhaps a doll or a teddy or the evergreen book. We walked into such parties with a casual shorts or jeans and a t-shirt, sang happy birthday and ate home-made cake. And to top it all, most birthday parties I remember, were either at home or the nearest McDonalds or Pizza hut and never ventured further. They started at 5 and ended around 8 and we all headed home then with a fun day of games and laughter.

Guess it ain't the same anymore. They have parties in.....as mentioned...Burj Khalifa and maybe then even ballrooms of Burj Al Arab and Emirates Palace. Teddy bears raise an eyebrow or two if gifted and will probably even jeopardize the friendship. DJ or an orchestra replace the friendly though off-tune happy birthday song. Oh and nobody wears the same regular stuff on parties anymore. They are out making their wardrobe purchases at the news of an upcoming birthday. It's more of "Did you see her backless number?" and "Check out her shoes!" instead of some silly chatter.

It's less than five years since I existed my teens, but oh boy, times have really really changed.