the whole balloon thing wouldn't be so bad if it was a birthday tradition specifically for erin, and ethan had his own special birthday tradition, just for him. babs claimed ethan felt "brave enough" to have
her his bedroom filled with balloons for the first time a few years ago, so asked for the same "birthday treatment" as princess ez. whether ethan truly was fearful of balloons - or emma just couldn't be bothered making her little boy feel special - surely they could have created a birthday tradition specifically for ethan years ago. the poor kid is always an afterthought. imagine having to ASK if you could be treated the same as the golden child on your own birthday.
and what makes it worse is that babs constantly emphasises the fact that the balloons are a special tradition between erin and her daddy. it's no secret that erin is emma's favourite, but it must destroy ethan thinking that she's ste's favourite too.