Dear Diane: Will Sweet 16 party be a bust?

Dear Diane: Our daughter, “Rose,” will turn 16 in October. We’ve begun planning her Sweet 16 party, which is going to cost us quite a bundle, but yesterday Rose dropped a bomb on the plans.

Rose wants us to pay for her to get a boob job. She’s already a shapely girl, but Rose wants them to be bigger. Much bigger. Too much, in my opinion.

She says that many of her friends are getting larger breasts for their 16th birthday, so she thinks she deserves them too.

Diane, my husband and I cannot afford to give Rose a lavish Sweet 16 party and pay for breast-enlargement surgery on top of that. Besides, her father is dead-set against the idea of Rose getting what he calls a “Stripper Chest.”

What do I do? I understand a girl’s Sweet 16 is an important rite of passage and almost as important as her wedding day. I want everything to be perfect for Rose, but this breast business has really thrown things for a loop. Any advice would be most welcome. — Poor Parents in Palatka

Dear Parents: It’s my feeling that parents are spending faaaar too much money on these Sweet 16 parties. Many go into a level of debt usually reserved for weddings. You may want to reconsider how much you are already spending on the party.

As far as the breast augmentation Rose is demanding, I am against it. She’s only 16 and still developing.

You are her parents. Put your foot down and tell Rose there is no way you are paying for her to get a boob job for her 16th birthday. Or her 17th. Or her 18th.

When she becomes an adult she can pay for it herself, but until then you will not pay or authorize any doctor to perform that type of surgery on her.

Rose will be unhappy about it. Too bad. You are her parents, not her bosom buddies, and you are doing this for her own good.