My son goes to a private school. Granted it's a hippy German school, not a hoity-toity, get your kid ready for Harvard while he's still in diapers kind of school, but it is a private school. There will always be some rich kids at any private school, but at The Boy's school I've never found it too obvious who they are.

Let me just state for the record that I am not particularly envious of those with a whole lot more money than I have. We are blessed beyond measure. I am at times surprised, by the style in which others do things, because it sure isn't what middle class me is used to.

We've had several invitations to birthday parties for kids from school, but we didn't get to the ones at the beginning of the year because I was too pregnant and tired. Yesterday -- as a side note, who in the Bible Belt throws a Sunday afternoon birthday party? -- we went to the first party for kids from school. I've never been to anything like it for children and I can't think of any adult birthday parties I've been invited to like it either. I run with quite a different set.

It was catered by a fancy bakery/deli in town, with several wines/beers/fancy juices, roast beef, a variety of breads, stewed pears and fancy cheeses, and a few other things like that. There was a violinist and a mandolin player. An actor played Merlin and did a big show. For each child guest (of which there were about 20) there was a nice felt tunic and a wooden sword to take home.

I felt distinctly guilty, because the presents we had brought -- homemade felt crowns (I didn't have any time to shop, remember?) -- weren't as nice as the tunics and expensive swords the guests were given. It's certainly a world apart from what I'm used to, and I think I'll now stop fretting and stick with the world of pizza and cake for the kiddie parties. I'm more comfortable there.