Mom requests we bring back simple ‘cake and pizza’ birthday parties, please and thanks

Have you ever thought that kids’ birthday parties are getting a little out of pocket? Like, you go to a party for a 4-year-old and there are rented bounce houses and hired entertainment and you just wonder why everything needs to be so extra. You’re not alone. One mom is going viral for her TikTok video, where she yearns for the days of millennial childhood, when we had “cake and pizza” birthday parties and they were totally fine.

In her video, mom Amber C explains that for her son’s third birthday, she was overwhelmed and flying solo due to a business trip her husband had to take, so a “cake and pizza” birthday party is exactly what she did.

“I didn’t rent anything. I didn’t rent a bounce house, performers, face paint, I didn’t have a big balloon wall,” she said. “I did all my own decorations. I ordered one bouquet from Party City of balloons.”

Amber C continued on to explain her reasoning for having a simple birthday party for her toddler, as if she needed to justify it.

“Moral of the story is I kept it simple for a couple reasons,” she said. “One: My husband and I, we both grew up where our parents did not have a lot of money, and we always had great birthdays. We have fond memories of our birthdays, and they didn’t have all of this extra fluff. They just had like, family and running around with your friends, and presents and cake, and just like, traditional stuff.”

She continued, “Two: I have done a lot of stuff for my kids in the past for birthdays and the birthdays have always been so exhausting to me, and a little bit stressful, if I’m going to be honest. I just wanted to bring the birthdays down to Earth a little bit.”

Amen, momma. She does note that for big birthdays, like her daughter’s Sweet 16, she still plans to blow it out. But for regular birthdays, her family is going to keep things simple from now on. And is there anything wrong with that? No!

So let this be our rallying cry. Ditch the bounce houses and face painters. Kids don’t need those! They just want pizza, cake, and friends.