Going shopping as a birthday party?

[BlueEyedLady]

To me there is a difference in going to a mall just for the sake of spending money and spending money on gifts, or birthday outings such as visiting theme parks, going to the movies, etc.

Going to a mall to spend money for no other purpose than just to go shopping to me equates to spending money being an end in itself. On the other hand spending money on a gift or paying for party stuff or for the kids to go to the movies does not equate to the money spending being an end in itself but it is a means to an end.

The question is thus - is spending money as an ends in itself moral? Is it right?

And please don’t judge me on this. As a parent I know I am still learning and will be learning till the day I die. I like to consider different viewpoints and ponder on what is shared.

Thanks.

I don’t think this is a case of going to the mall for no other purpose than to spend money.

Think of it like poker night. The point of poker night isn’t really just to throw your $20 in and try to profit. It’s about talking and catching up with friends, laughing, telling stories, playful competitiveness and trash talking, etc.

The purpose of going to the mall for these girls is not to spend $20. I would be willing to bet that the $20 has very little to do with the excitement. Rather, it’s the chance to dress up a little, go out with friends in a safe, but quasi unsupervised manner, getting to talk, going over purchases together, etc. In short, its the socialization aspect that makes it really appealing.

One of my friends had a party like this for her 14th birthday, and it was a lot of fun. I’m not so sure about letting 11 year olds loose though-not because of predators though, mostly the potential for behavior issues.

 

[PhiloMed]

To me there is a difference in going to a mall just for the sake of spending money and spending money on gifts, or birthday outings such as visiting theme parks, going to the movies, etc.

Going to a mall to spend money for no other purpose than just to go shopping to me equates to spending money being an end in itself. On the other hand spending money on a gift or paying for party stuff or for the kids to go to the movies does not equate to the money spending being an end in itself but it is a means to an end.

The question is thus - is spending money as an ends in itself moral? Is it right?

And please don’t judge me on this. As a parent I know I am still learning and will be learning till the day I die. I like to consider different viewpoints and ponder on what is shared.

Thanks.

But this isn’t spending money as an end in itself. It’s spending money for a birthday party. Whenever money is spent there is some purpose even if it seems frivolous.

I had this exact same kind of outing for my 11th or 12th birthday. It was so much fun! The mall is like an amusement park for girls that age. There are stores with fun hair accessories, kiosks with cheap costume jewelry, sunglasses, scarves. Stores like The Body Shop have testers to try out the lotions and soaps. There’s a food court where you can get completely unhealthy but wonderfully delicious treats.

I would definitely let my daughter go to this.