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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Emma Brockes

Digested week: the birthday rat race is back – oh, for pandemic parties in the park

children in park having park
During Covid, birthdays slid back to where they were meant to be – cheaper, more inclusive, and in the park. Photograph: Wavebreak Media ltd/Alamy


Monday

One welcome hiatus during the pandemic was from the rat race of children’s birthday parties. It never reached Christina Crawford levels of pony and fairground rides in our corner of New York but, before March 2020, middle-class kids in my neighbourhood would routinely throw parties at venues that once catering, party bags and gratuities were factored in, comfortably hit a low three-figure amount in dollars per child.

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