How Much is Too Much for a Party?

This New York Times article about the TV show My Super Sweet 16 really got me thinking about spending. The show, if you are unfamiliar with it, is a reality program that follows the planning and preparation for some of the most expensive teenage birthday parties in the country. Many of the parties cost upwards of $200,000, not including the gifts of cars, clothes and jewelry that many of the lucky kids receive in addition.

The show has its fans and its critics, but the critics are always the most vocal, saying that such "celebrations of self... [are] an excuse to prolong the whiny, self-centered greediness that gives infantile a bad name." In contrast, a mother whose daughter appeared on the show said "Unless they were crazy or hated their child, any parent who was financially able would do it." Would they? Is there a point where the spending for a child's entertainment should stop?