Good thing she didn't want a live My Little Pony

is my question. Like the reader above where dad provided these play services, that seems harmless to me.

Finding a stranger to pay to be the help for a day seems very disconnected with reality to me.

I can totally see wanting a "real" butler when you're nine, but I can't wrap my mind around parents paying hundreds of dollars to hire someone their kid can boss around. It just screams overindulgence. As has been pointed out above, why not have dad or an older brother dress up in a suit and take the part guests' coats as they come in?

For the record: I played Marie Curie as a child. No, I did not have many friends.

* Why is this child interested in having a butler?

The parent said it was to "boss around" someone.

* How did the parent handle this request from the kid?

The parents chose to spend $100-200 to hire a person to be bossed around by their kid as a way to "indulge" them.

* What does that say about the parents?

That's quite a bit of money and trouble to indulge a fourth grader's fantasy for their birthday. Can we fairly suppose that these parents regularly give the girl what she wants? Are they enablers of the child?

* If they are enablers, then is it reasonable to enable the child to have control over another person, even for a day?

The nine-year old has no concept of why a butler might be of service to someone. She only knows it to be a person who enables their demands no matter what (as seen from every "of course, sir" butler on TV ever).

* How is this different than the dinosaur boy from Dorchester?

A dinosaur isn't laden with the baggage of being in the service industry. The boy presumably wants a dinosaur to boss around because he likes dinosaurs. I'm still not certain I'd be happy with someone willing to "indulge" his demand that the dinosaur be subservient as opposed to just being a dinosaur at the party.

A girl with a fascination with butlers and true appreciation of their profession isn't going to require mom's adjuration that requests will "remain respectful" and might even mention it as an infatuation with the job as opposed to the desire to "boss someone around". The language of the ad colored in the lines.

That girl has no idea what a butler is or does...she wants a slave for a day and that is not a healthy demand (goes to how she's being raised) and certainly not something that should be encouraged or indulged in any way (more example of how she's being raised).

I probably am overreacting, but something about it rankles on me. Butlers/valets/maids/etc. are professional staff, not entertainers, and are entitled to professional levels of respect and conduct. This request doesn't fit with that. Clowns are professional entertainers, and their particular style allows for a certain liveliness of interaction that I just think would better suit the needs of this girl and her family. At the very least, it seems like a more promising foundation upon which to build, IMHO.

Full disclosure: Even when I was a kid, I was prematurely curmudgeonly. My birthday parties from about age 9 onward involved me and two or three friends bowling or shooting pool. I really don't get the whole idea of theme birthday parties, so this whole thing seems ludicrous to me.