Battle of the children's birthdays: how to hold your head high as a Hong Kong party pauper
Children's birthdays can easily turn into a game of one-upmanship among parents
It was a lavish birthday party. The only daughter of corporate lawyers was turning five, and the venue - a luxury beachside home in Stanley - had been transformed into a wonderland with fairy lights, lanterns and princess-shaped ice carvings dotted around the lush garden. On a corner table sat a giant cake custom made for the event.
"The birthday girl is a fan of Elsa," says Jo McClaren, referring to the heroine in the popular Disney animation, Frozen. McClaren (not her real name) attended the party with her six-year-old daughter; and she found the whole affair "amazing - everything was princess themed. There was even pink lemonade."
But when her thoughts turned to putting on parties for her own child, McClaren says she felt "as deflated as the end-of-party balloons".
"The kids' party circuit can be stressful, which is kind of ironic when they are supposed to be about fun," she says. "There's a lot of pressure to make parties perfect and original.
"My husband and I are both teachers, and we don't make a lot of money like the parents of some children our daughter socialises with. We attend a lot of kids' parties - feels like three a month - and there is growing pressure to host equally lavish parties, not to mention getting an equally lavish gift. You want to give your kids the best, but, at the same time, you want them to learn about the value of money, to understand that bigger is not better and not to become too materialistic. It's difficult to strike a balance."
Lavish children's parties are nothing new for wealthy celebrities. Jay-Z and Beyonce made headlines in 2013 when they spent a cool US$200,000 on the first birthday party of their daughter, Blue Ivy. David and Victoria Beckham spent US$187,000 on a custom-built playhouse for their son Brooklyn's sixth birthday.