Thinly sliced slices of baguette bread, butter, a quarter of a ham leaf, two finely chopped cruciferous vegetables and some grated cheese.
Juice, yellow and black, on the table.
Music is playing from the cassette player in the children's room, while a dozen eleven-year-olds are trying to figure out who is going to ask whom to dance.
This was a typical image of most children's birthdays in Serbia in the 1980s.
Uproar, shouting and a few tears almost marked the majority of such birthdays, while the parents sat relaxed in the comfortable armchair of the living room, only occasionally checking what the children were doing or warning them to be quieter when the game took them away.
However, in the last 15-20 years, children's birthday parties have moved to playrooms, party halls, parks, and yards.
"There are at least 30 children on my son's birthday and it is impossible to organize a celebration at home.
"He calls all his friends from kindergarten, and our friends' children are also there, so he gathers," says Sandra Držić, mother of a five-year-old from Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.
She also adds that her celebrations always follow the trends and what is most interesting to the children at that moment, because for days afterwards it is the main topic for the children in the kindergarten.
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Sociologist Dragan Stanojević explains that for the last 60 years, children's birthdays have been one of the most important dates of family celebrations.
"Before modern society, the concept of childhood and celebrating birthdays didn't even exist, especially in the countryside.
"It is a modern phenomenon that has to do with industrialization and modern society," Stanojević points out.
According to the data of the Agency for Economic Registers (APR), in 2023, 372 entrepreneurs engaged in entertainment and recreational activities were registered in Serbia.
Under this code are arcades, ski jumps and all those involved in the organization of celebrations.
The APR figures show that this is an increasingly profitable business, because in 2022 the number of entrepreneurs was drastically lower - 26.
Everything is the same today, but somehow different
Children's roars, screams, running and jumping in all directions.
Parents sit in small groups and talk in a separate area, while the little ones play.
Every now and then, a flushed child runs to mom to complain that he didn't get what he wanted.
Time in the children's playroom is clearly divided: during two, two and a half hours, children will blow out candles, eat cake, have their faces painted, a magician or clown will perform a show.
Most people leave the playroom sweaty, so after the party there is drying and changing.
Parents, who are lucky enough to know one of the elders, can have a pleasant time, while others will be bored, counting the minutes until the end.
Time flies for children, and the birthday boy leaves with a pile of presents, which he opens at home until late at night.
Moving celebrations
Sociologist Stanojević says that he is 45 years old and that his parents also celebrated his birthday, but the spirit of the times is such that they moved from private to public spaces.
"Earlier, we used to invite and welcome friends to our house, but now we meet in bars, at dinners," says Stanojević.
The trend, he adds, is for private space to remain protected from public intrusion.
"Getting out of privacy means showing because some people have a need to celebrate their birthday in accordance with the values they promote and accept.
"If the ultimate value is money or success, they want to show it through their birthday," says Stanojević.
It is not necessary, he adds, for birthdays to be lavish and to spend a lot of money.
"Friends started celebrating children's modest birthdays in parks, and they ask parents not to bring the birthday boy a present, but to give money that will be collected for charity," Stanojević points out.
We should not forget, he says, that there are also requirements of the environment: for example, if the birthday boy goes to kindergarten, he should invite all his friends from the group.
"Children must not be separated, neither socially nor according to other differences, but all celebrate together.
"That model should strengthen the unity of the peer group," says Stanojević.
When professionals perform
In order to follow the trends, but also the wishes of the child, Ana Pavić from Belgrade says that she will most likely hire an agency that deals with the organization of children's birthdays.
It is hers only to pay.
"My daughter was born in the summer, so it's easier in terms of space, but every time the children have a new wish.
"We talked about having the birthday in the park, but I will definitely find someone to organize it, especially the animation," said Ana.
Mina Mladenović, an organizer of celebrations in a Belgrade agency, tells the BBC in Serbian that parents approach them the most when they celebrate their child's first and second birthday.
"Sometimes these celebrations are classic, in a restaurant, and there are those who want the celebration to be themed.
"There are more and more virtual reality birthdays, where kids put on glasses and play a game," she says.
In the summer, he adds, houses with a swimming pool are current, especially when there are up to 60 guests.
At the end of April, Sandra Držić will also celebrate her child's birthday.
He says that this time it will be a glade outside Belgrade, because he will invite animators with owls and falcons.
"I have to combine nature and something unusual, although it will not be easy to organize, at least in terms of bringing food."
Wallets dry because of children's trends
When it comes to prices and ideas, the sky is the limit, says organizer Mina Mladenović.
"The most expensive children's birthday we organized cost around 20.000 euros."
These, he adds, are like small weddings, with around 200 guests.
"Recently, the parents of my daughter's friend rented a limousine to drive the children around the center of Belgrade for her 10th birthday.
"The children drank imitation sparkling wine, and after the ride, the party continued in the playroom-disco, where they had a DJ, non-alcoholic cocktails and everything looked like a night out," says Ana Pavić.
He adds that now they have a problem with how they will organize their daughter's birthday, because boundaries are constantly shifting, and children like to be trendy.
Social networks are full of advertisements with ideas for celebrations, and there are also those specifically intended for girls and their friends, such as a spa center where girls and their friends celebrate their birthday.
The walls in the spa are pink, as are the balloons and the birthday cake.
The birthday girl and her friends have the opportunity to enjoy fixing and painting their fingernails and toenails, doing their hair, and applying makeup.
The girls are dressed in bathrobes, the birthday girl wears high-heeled shoes, there are tulle skirts, a crown.
And while they can have fun with the treatments, the boys spend time in the video game room.
Such birthday parties cost from 25 to 30 euros per child.
There is also fun in the "escape room", where children, solving tasks, can get out of the locked room.
Without 300 euros, there is no two-hour celebration here either.
It is the same with playgrounds-jumping rooms.
"Rent for two and a half hours costs 25.000 dinars for 20 children, while each additional guest costs XNUMX dinars.
"That's not all, another 25.000 dinars are spent on food," said Anđa Stanić, the mother of a ten-year-old girl from Belgrade.
He also adds that children's socks are also paid for separately, without which they cannot be in the ski jump, and a pair costs 300 dinars.
Birthdays are also celebrated in kindergartens
"At my son's kindergarten, birthdays are celebrated by the parents bringing a minimum serving for the children, some candy, possibly juice, and everyone blowing out the candle together.
"The children are preparing a card for the birthday boy, making drawings," says Milana Stajić, mother of a five-year-old boy from Kragujevac.
Her child, she says, is always happy - both when he is celebrating and when other children are celebrating.
"Until he was five, we celebrated his birthdays at home, with a few of his closest friends, and then we organized a party in the playroom.
"Even though he didn't ask for it, he's been to many such birthdays, so we felt obligated to organize it too," says Milana.
He explains that they didn't want him to stand out, because he always came away from such celebrations full of enthusiasm and stories.
"It all cost a lot, and it seems to me that we could have used that money more wisely, say for a trip."
"In the meantime, we went to several sports birthdays, where the children are entertained by coaches in sports schools, which is very interesting for them, it doesn't cost much, and I think that next year we will do the same," concludes Milana.
Coming of age in full voice and for all money
Coming-of-age celebrations in Serbia have, in recent years, increasingly resembled wedding celebrations, and are most often celebrated in large and solemn halls.
Certain halls for celebrations are rented months in advance, and birthday celebrations like this can cost several thousand euros, depending on the space, food and music.
"We wanted to celebrate our daughter's birthday first in the yard, because it is spacious and it is summer, but the organizers, whom we called to help with the celebration, told us that it is very inconvenient because of the weather and possible summer weather.
"So that the rain wouldn't spoil our fun, we decided to rent a hall for celebrations for about 150 guests and everything cost a little more than 3.000 euros," explains Sanja Đurić from Omoljica, a village not far from Pančevo.
Children no longer want to have small birthday parties when they turn 18, adds Sanja.
She believes that for that money, her child could travel and remember it for the rest of his life.
"The problem is that this is how her society celebrates birthdays, they see each other, they want it to be with balloons, music, cake and fireworks.
"Even when you offer them something else, they don't want it, they say 'this is trendy now,'" says Sanja.
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