Was it the requirement if renting a $500 party venue that might have triggered people. My circle are upper middle class who could afford a $500 venue without begging. But our birthday parties for elementary school kids are of the backyard variety with games which all the kids enjoy. A modest goodie bag and pizza, cake and ice cream. Tween girls do a sleepover typically with some kind of theme and might go home with a nail kit or crafts or equivalent Birthdays that are milestones like Sweet 16, Quince, Bah Mitzvah or equivalent are more lavish of course but no one is begging