At what price princess? - NorthJersey.com

A princess came to our house the other day. She cost $225.

Yes, thats the going rate if you want to hire one for your childs birthday party. Same goes for a pirate or a magician. Actually, I just saw a coupon for a magician who will give you a cut rate of $279 instead of his usual $359.

Our little Ayla had her first birthday this weekend at the Lynwander house, and her parents decided to top it all off with a visit from a princess theyd found online. I, for one, questioned whether toddlers would appreciate her or be scared of her since none of the guests were over the age of 5. Yet on the other hand, who at any age wouldnt mind being the recipient of attention from a pretty, costumed, bewigged lady waving her wand around?

The tiara-wearing princess glided into our house carrying her accompaniments of balloons, ribbons, confetti and a paint kit, which shed use to make up faces. She did all that and then graciously posed for photos as parents shooed children into her arms, the shy ones crying and others clearly delighted. As for the birthday girl herself, she was unsure of what was happening and sucked vigorously on her pacifier for stress relief. Then, in a little more than an hour, the princess collected her fee and drove away, perhaps to visit some other lucky boy or girl.

Somewhere midway through her own party, our birthday girl fell fast asleep, and who could blame her? By this time, in a fussy three-piece outfit, she had passed through so many strangers arms and had sampled all sorts of strange foods, and she was beat. So was Grandma, who was part of the cleanup crew.

I know this is dating myself, but if youre anywhere near my age, you can probably remember back to your own birthday parties. Guests parents dropped the kids off, and your mom served them cake and ice cream. Then everyone played a couple of games like pin the tail on the donkey, and the birthday girl or boy opened his token gifts light years away from todays themed parties.

Anyway, Im seriously considering a second career. Maybe not as a princess, because Im getting a little long in the tooth for that, but certainly something along the lines of Queen Mother. I would also consider being a fairy or an angel or a storybook character. Id even dress up as an animal. Id do it for under $200 if the host fed me. So think about it: Im available.

Can you imagine a better way to make money and spread cheer around? What a shtick. Apparently more people than youd think are moonlighting at birthday parties this way, and even professional people, too. Someone told me shed hired a magician for her sons fourth birthday party, and when she called, the voice message said, "Hi, this is Adam. Press 1 for lawyer and 2 for magician."

My thinking is that if Adam the magician/lawyer can do it, so could somebody whos a writer/Queen Mother.