Limo rental for young kids' birthdays?

[Butterscotch]

I don’t think it sounds too crazy. People are always talking about buying kids experiences rather than more junk. While a limo isn’t educational it would be so much fun for 8yr olds.

If I had a really good kid and they asked for a limo for their birthday, just to drive him and a few friends to the movies or bowling or whatever, I would probably have a hard time saying no just because it wasn’t my preference. That would be the gift though. Actually, that would be great because I am sick of toys that just get trashed and end up in a landfill.

Most of what kids want doesn’t appeal to adults. I can’t even count how many times I begged my parents for pony rides. They thought it was so stupid to be led around in a circle on a shaggy pony, but they let me do it over and over at every fair or event we went to that had them. They are some of my favorite childhood memories.

[amastewa93]

Except it isn't the parents pushing for it. It's the kid asking for it.

Interesting... I would have never thought to ask my parents for a limo for my 8th birthday (maybe I was doing it wrong).

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

A problem with hiring a limo for age 8 birthday, or celebrating in any other spectacular or ostentatious way is-- how do you top it for occasions that seem more momentous? How do you set them apart?

For some succeeding birthday do you hire a team of white horses decked out in marigolds and daisies, pulling a carriage modeled after something in the Queen's carriage house? Then what do you do for that prom? High school graduation? Wedding?

It's great to do something special for special events, but if you go all out starting at age 8 (or in the toddler years?), it could spoil the possibilities for finding special ways to celebrate future events.

[msomnipotent]

A problem with hiring a limo for age 8 birthday, or celebrating in any other spectacular or ostentatious way is-- how do you top it for occasions that seem more momentous? How do you set them apart?

For some succeeding birthday do you hire a team of white horses decked out in marigolds and daisies, pulling a carriage modeled after something in the Queen's carriage house? Then what do you do for that prom? High school graduation? Wedding?

It's great to do something special for special events, but if you go all out starting at age 8 (or in the toddler years?), it could spoil the possibilities for finding special ways to celebrate future events.

I think that is where a lot of people start tripping themselves up. I don't feel the need to top my daughter's parties at all. I just want her to have a good time. One year, I rented out our clubhouse and hired a DJ and a photo booth. All the kids in her grade were invited, which is a metric butt ton of them, and had pizza and snacks and what not. It was a lot cheaper than it sounds because the clubhouse was $50 and I got Groupons for the DJ and photo booth. The next year she just wanted to take a few friends to the movies. We kind of didn't get around to having a party for her last year. I'm thinking of either renting out a movie theater this year or doing the lazer tag thing again. It is hard because her birthday is during the winter, and there isn't a lot to do here then. I just don't want kids in my house breaking my things and risk getting bit by the dog.


But on another note, is renting a limo really that big of a deal? I can see it being so for a kid, but it is just another form of transportation to me. They are all over here, even the stretch Hummer limos that look insanely stupid. Welcome to a HCOL area! It is actually cheaper to get a limo to take you to the airport than to drive yourself. Not just a town car, which would be even cheaper, but an actual limo.

[kork13]

I think that is where a lot of people start tripping themselves up. I don't feel the need to top my daughter's parties at all. I just want her to have a good time.

That was my thought as well... Why do successive birthdays have to exceed previous ones? Seems to me that's exactly the kind of thinking that LEADS to an 8 y/o riding in style with a limo on his way to Chucky Cheese.

By feeling the need to always have an event surpass the previous one, parents trap themselves in a death spiral. Instead of your kid remembering "that one year that Darth Vader showed up at my birthday party then he & Luke Skywalker had an epic lightsaber battle & it was the best birthday of my entire life!" ... the kid instead only remembers the last extravaganza, or worse, "that one year when my parents ruined my birthday because they we only did laser tag & a birthday cake with a few of my friends. I was so embarrassed." Parents set their own precedent. If their kids expect cake & laser tag then get Vader, it means the world... Even if the next year goes back to being a simple cake & bowling day, because they still remember with glee that year with Vader. Doesn't go so well the other way around.

YMMV... but that's how birthdays went for me. Quiet, small parties most years, then occasionally something incredible like a full day of unlimited gaming at the arcade with a bunch of my friends.... Prize tickets a mile long!

[Nutria]

Parents set their own precedent. If their kids expect cake & laser tag then get Vader, it means the world... Even if the next year goes back to being a simple cake & bowling day, because they still remember with glee that year with Vader. Doesn't go so well the other way around.

+100 Parenting

[disneysteve]

I don’t think it sounds too crazy. People are always talking about buying kids experiences rather than more junk. While a limo isn’t educational it would be so much fun for 8yr olds.

If I had a really good kid and they asked for a limo for their birthday, just to drive him and a few friends to the movies or bowling or whatever, I would probably have a hard time saying no just because it wasn’t my preference. That would be the gift though.

I can see it in that situation. If my kid said, "For my birthday, I really want to ride in a limo." It would be no different than if the kid said, "For my birthday, I really want to see a Broadway show." If your gift to them that year was that limo ride (and you could afford it, of course), that would be cool.

I'm all about experiences over stuff, hence the reason we love to travel. We've taken our daughter all kinds of cool places. Some of them she went to just because we were going and she had to come but some of them were driven by her desire or request, but it's always been stuff we had the money to do.

[scfr]

She could have some fun with the request:
Borrow a man's black suit & tie
Borrow a "chauffer" type hat (or make or buy a cheap one)
Hang a faux disco ball from the ceiling of the mini-van
Tape a sign to the side of the door that says "Mom's Limo Service"

Hopefully the kids would appreciate the humor & creativity. I'll bet it would be memorable and something her son will look back on in the future fondly.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I've seen and done all of that. Sigh. HCOLA. Anyway though what I spend on my kiddos has been a lot because I have a winter birthday and the cost of parties is expensive. But heck I saved all those years living in a condo that no way barely fit an extra family I didn't feel at all bad spending $500 for a birthday party. I'm doing it again this year. It's a gymnastics party for her class and while I've considered scaling it down, right now having just moved we are trying to meet kids/parents instead of scaling back. So we invite the class and do the "party" thing at a location. Last year it was the same gymnastic party.

My younger one wants a bouncing jump house party. She still remembers her 4th birthday party at the location and talks about it non-stop. That one was probably like $250 because she had a small pre-school class.

I will say I'll probably end up spending more as they get older because even if I invite say 5 kids to dinner and movie/activity it'll be pricey. Price per kid will be a lot more.

I'll say that where I've lived parents easily spend fortunes on parties and easily afford it. But I still think do what you can afford.

I recall fondly my super cheap mcdonald's birthdays at the playarea. And my miniature golf and my picnic at park. At least my mom did something and we had less money than many others. DH's parents never bothered with anything and that was the worse part. Forgetting your kid's birthday and not bothering to do anything. DH doesn't recall a single birthday party. He's not sure he always got cake.

So now I do buy him a cake (always) and a separate present because December birthdays suck, and this year I want to go all out for his 40th. I'm not sure what we are doing yet.

[Thrif-t]

Ugh, I hated the kid birthday party era! We just never had money to have "location parties" like everyone else. But you know what the kids liked coming to our house for "house parties" because no one had them at home so it was something different than bowling or skating or laser tag.

One year when my son was 9 on 9-9-09, I picked him and 6 friends up from elementary school in our conversion van that was a decorated (like people used to decorate wedding party cars in the old days) had signs on it that said D is 9 on 9-9-09, decorated the inside with balloons and lights, and we drove around our town honking and hollering out the windows and the boys loved it!

Came home and my DH took the boys to an open field and they played football. Those were the kinds of birthday parties my kids always had.