Celebrations go cold the moment they turn into measurement. Someone mentions who managed it younger, or faster, or with less help, and the room reorganises itself into a ranking that nobody asked for. The person being celebrated then has to defend the achievement instead of enjoying it. Warmth survives only where nothing is being scored.

You have more control over this than it seems, because comparison usually enters through a single remark. Notice the urge to say how yours went, or how someone else’s did, and let it pass. Ask instead what the hardest part was, and the evening stays on the person in front of you.