Pinata Etiquette and Birthday Parties

We went to a children's birthday party today for our friends' three year old son. Toward the end there was a pull-string pinata filled with candy. All the little kids gathered around with their bags awaiting the candy to fall out of the CARS pinata. I'm expecting to see a mad dash of kids trying to grab whatever they can and get as much as they can. What I saw instead was the best etiquette I've ever seen when it comes to a pinata. The kids were carefully and pretty quietly picking up candy to stuff in their bags, some even putting back types of candy they didn't like or want. It was all very funny. Each kid got his/her fair share and then some and there still seemed to be some left (the plus side of my friend filling a 3 lb. pinata with 5 lbs. of candy...for the record, it did hold five without breaking, so feel free to exceed the weight limit). Anyway, I just found it funny that kids were so polite and tame when it came to something like candy falling from the sky. Even without parents policing how much candy each child could take they seemed to police themselves. We'll see if we're so lucky when we try it with our daughter's 3rd party next month.

Changing gears, my friend and I happened to be pregnant both times at the same time as each other. So, as such, our children's birthday's are weeks apart, which means 4 birthday parties in the span of 2 months. While I love going to other kid's birthday parties I hate throwing our own kid's parties, simply because of all the work that goes into it. And, in going over to a friend's party, I almost feel back knowing how much work she has put into it and she's probably too exhausted to enjoy it. At least that's how I feel half of the time. It takes days of planning and shopping and prepping and cooking just to have a simple party of oftentimes finger foods and cake. My husband and I, and most of our friends, are of the belief that kid's birthday parties should be kept simple. None of us plan big elaborate shindigs that are over the top. However, during the planning stages and preparation it sure feels like it. Would it be wrong to quit having birthday parties for my kids?????