Dear Heloise: I hear a lot of talk about gender reveal parties, but where I’m from, there are far too many ungrateful mothers-to be. At a recent baby shower, the mom-to-be opened a box with one of the ...

Most everybody loves an excuse to attend a good party. But these days, there seems to be more and more invites to the self-absorbed and self-indulgent kind, which lack the aforementioned “good” part.

From left, Paige Clark, Arthur Gomez, Antonia Turilli and Jupiter Lê in Lyric Stage Company's production of "The Great Reveal." (Courtesy Mark S. Howard) In “The Great Reveal,” a gender-reveal party ...