Competitive kids partying isn’t a sport parents should promote keep it simple!

Party on, mums, but keep it simple.

Tamara Ecclestone promised an “over-the-top” party for daughter Sophia’s first birthday and that’s exactly what Sophia got.

There were miniature ponies and zebras, the garden was decorated to look like fairyland, the food was fabulous and a fairytale princess arrived with a magic wand.

I do hope Sophia appreciated it.

Her mummy, the Formula One heiress, certainly didn’t grudge one penny of the £70,000 she spent celebrating Sophia’s birthday.

But do one-year-old babies really need such a lavish birthday bash? And when do such excesses become more about the parents and less about the children?

In our celebrity-crazed world, ordinary people copy the excesses of the rich and get themselves into debt trying to provide over-the-top experiences for their children.

They want to give them memorable birthday parties which include trips to fun fairs, play parks, helicopter rides whatever is the current playground buzz.

I heard of one primary school child recently whose birthday invite to his friends included a weekend trip to Disneyland Paris.

Now how do you top that as a parent if your idea of a kids’ party is a plate of sandwiches, a bowl of crisps, some jelly and ice cream and a game of Pass The Parcel?

The fact is, you don’t. You keep things simple and within your budget.

Children need to learn a party means having your friends round for a bit of fun, it’s not an excuse to show off.

Competitive partying isn’t a sport parents should encourage. Because if you start throwing extravagant first birthday parties where does it end up? Jetting five-year-olds off to a Rio carnival?

One-upmanship is a dangerous game. One parent starts it, then others feel they’re letting their children down if they don’t come up with something equally or even more exciting.

Don’t give in to that pressure. Think imaginatively. How about being bold enough to suggest a retro party?

The kind where there are sandwiches and baby sausages, games of Pin the Tail on the Donkey and everybody leaves with a party bag of Smarties and little jokes and puzzles.

You never know, it could catch on.

By the time baby Sophia is starting school she may even think mum Tamara’s fairtytale party was a bit excessive.

The day may come when a teenage Sophia rounds on her mother with a sigh of exasperation: “Purlease, mother. Cool it. You are just SO embarrassing. I want the girls round for a sleepover, a pyjama party ever heard of that?”