In my family, birthdays meant two parties: A family gathering, and then a party with friends. I don’t think I ever invited more than ten to twelve children, very often it was a small group of about five. Occasionally, we’d have three parties: Family, school friends and “old friends”. After reaching a certain age, my classmates decided they were adults. I didn’t like that, but invited them anyway. Mixing these “grown up” girls with my down-to-earth friends wouldn’t have gone well, so my parents agreed to a separate party a few times.