WWYD having to pay for child to go to party

JC9297

Since when did 3 year olds and 18 month old children have best friends?

scottishchick27

OP I can sort of see your friends point, I'm thinking of booking our local ice rink for an hour for DD's birthday and I can take as many people as I want and it includes skate hire but would have to pay £7 per head on top for meals. I was thinking of inviting some of MY friends kids along too so they can also enjoy skating but they're not DD's friends. I'm going to suggest to my friends that they're welcome to take their kids along but I'll only be paying for DD's friends to stay for the meal afterwards. I can't see this being a problem to them.

liney

claire16c wrote: »

Just buy the little one some extra food from the cafe there. Or share some of the older ones food with her and sneak a snack in. Problem solved.

I think it probably is down to younger children getting in for free but therefore there is no food provided for them. So it makes no sense for your friend to basically pay a load of money for 1 childs lunch if she were to pay for her.

At my wedding the reception my niece was 2, well we told them she was 20 months and so they let her in for free, but therefore there was no food for her. My sis-in-law understood perfectly we werent about to spend that much on food for a 2 year old, but there was plenty of food and she simply ate some off her mums and partners plates and they put an extra plate out. Im sure it will be the same at a childs party especially with all the havoc and noise they wont notice if you just grab an empty plate.

Our soft play provide the party food in 'Happy Meal' type bags and you select your food choice on the back of the returnable invitation they provide. It's not like having a party in hall and just putting some food on.

mumofjusttwo

i wonder if the children have to be a certain age to be seated for the food. My son has been to parties and my daughter could not be with him as she was too young.

MoneySavingMamma

My son had his 5th birthday at one of these play places, one mum dropped off her (invited) 5 year old with a (not invited)7yr old sibling & was disappearing out the door when one of the staffed pulled her up on it. "Is this one a party guest or an extra?" The mum looked quite baffled that the 7yr old would have to be paid for, but if they'd come themselves it would have been the cost of 2 children & 1 adult, so why did she think she could just leave a child there? I didn't know them well, son didn't know sibling, thats another child I would have had to look after & pay for if the staff member hadn't got involved.
The mum said the 7year old was looking after the 5yr old, but if she wasn't confident enough to be alone at the party, the mum should have stayed (adults with party were free) She coughed up in the end, then disappeared off to wherever was more important than looking after her kids!!:eek:

chanie

To be honest, I wouldn't want to pay for an 18 month old if I was hosting a party.

My DS is 18 month old and my nephew had his birthday party at an expensive soft play place. Anyway, my sister and I agreed that we wouldn't 'include' him in the numbers as there was no point in paying for him. I took DS to the Under 5's area and he had a whale of a time being able to run around, but he would have been just as happy in the park.

If it was a close friend of mine, I would insist not to include DS in the numbers as I wouldn't want to money spent on DS if he isn't going to 'appreciate' it.

I think your friend could have worded it better. She's probably spent more than she realised and is now worried about costs.

Amandaj32

I would tend to agree with other posters - if you would like your younger child to be part of the party then you could offer to pay for their place or else take them somewhere near for something to eat at food time.

It happened to me when DS was 8. He was in a composite class along with a younger class. His friend's sister was in the lower class but I felt he was getting old enough to choose his party guests. The children's parents were divorced and it was obviously the 'dad's day' and he brought along the children - DS's friend and younger sister. The sister wasn't invited but was obviously dressed in 'party outfit'.I was so embarrassed that she wasn't invited that I let her stay and paid the extra. I'm honestly not bothered about presents but it made me smile to realise later on that they had brought neither a card nor a present.

As a footnote - DS and friend were invited to a party the following week. Funnily enough - the family arrived again, complete with little girl in party dress. Once again the mum at the party took pity on the girl! If the kids mum (or dad) had phoned and said the kids would be together on the Saturday I would have easily invited the girl or explained about numbers!)

Jinx

Amandaj32 wrote: »

It happened to me when DS was 8. He was in a composite class along with a younger class. His friend's sister was in the lower class but I felt he was getting old enough to choose his party guests. The children's parents were divorced and it was obviously the 'dad's day' and he brought along the children - DS's friend and younger sister. The sister wasn't invited but was obviously dressed in 'party outfit'.I was so embarrassed that she wasn't invited that I let her stay and paid the extra. I'm honestly not bothered about presents but it made me smile to realise later on that they had brought neither a card nor a present.

As a footnote - DS and friend were invited to a party the following week. Funnily enough - the family arrived again, complete with little girl in party dress. Once again the mum at the party took pity on the girl! If the kids mum (or dad) had phoned and said the kids would be together on the Saturday I would have easily invited the girl or explained about numbers!)

I think I would have done the same as you - however, whatever happened to only attending if you have been INVITED? To me this applies to weddings, parties and pretty much any organised event. To me it shouldnt matter who has the children on that day, if only the boy was invited, then only the boy should have attended.... some parents have a cheek....

Bumpmakesfour

I posted on here a while back moaning about people not replying to the invitations for my DDs party a few weeks back.On the flip side I had one mum text back saying X would love to come but can y come too as they are twins and go everywhere together.I thought it was a bit rude..not even a please but text back saying yes,sure no problem.
So I did Y a party bag,then on the day x turns up 40 mins late but no y anywhere.I asked his mum where he was and she said he'd changed his mind and decided to stay at home to play on the xbox.Bloody cheek!! Ask to be invited,get a yes then turn up late with one missing AND not even have the good manners to lie and make up a better excuse than the xbox:p Then another mum walked in with her invited child and proceeded to try to leave her other two kids that I've[EMAIL="I@ve"][/EMAIL] never seen before in my life till hubby stepped in and handed them back to her at the door
Personally I think people take the pi$$ with parties these days.They either don't bother replying,reply and not turn up but not let you know...or expect their other kids to be automatically included without thinking about the costs.
When I ask to leave a number or be left a number incase anything happens parents look at you like you're mad.Far too many parents see a party as an excuse for a bit of free babysitting tbh!!:p

marywooyeah

I think she could have worded it better but see her point. I had a party for my 3yr old at a soft play centre and it was £11 per child, under 2s were free but if they ate then I had to pay £11 for them too so I explained this to one of the parents and they were fine with their child not eating anything during the party - after all no kid is going to eat £11s of food and it seems silly to pay out that amount if they eat a couple of snacks. I'd just take a bit of food for your youngest and sneakily feed her yourself, its not worth falling out over.