In yet another ridiculous reflection of how litigous our society has become, two parents have gone to court over where their daughter's 7th Birthday will be held. Dad wants a Maccas party with friends and family, including his new 7 month-old baby, Mum wants a party somewhere else with no family.

The parents have been before the court "a number of times" since they split up early last year.

The judge ruled the father could be with his daughter between 3pm and 5pm on her birthday at the local childcare centre - alone. She said the girl should meet her half-sister sooner rather than later but in an orderly and sensitive way and not at a birthday party.

Michael Taussig QC said if somebody came to him asking to run a case in court about a birthday, he would tell them to see a psychiatrist.
"Unfortunately the Family Court has to deal with dysfunctional people constantly and this is just one example," he said. His suggestion would have been two birthday parties - one with mum, the other with dad.

You'd think they could get their act together enough to work out something as basic as this without it tying up valuable court time. And they only split last year, what hope have they got if they've already been to court "a number of times".

How sad is it that this is what this little girl will remember for this birthday. Me? When I turned 7 I wore a yellow dress and played "Drop the Hanky" in the backyard.