Children's Party - Rant!

Good morning all,

Not really any point to this thread other than to let off steam and share experiences!

My little girl who is 4 had a Halloween party on Saturday night. She's just started school and done so well and the party was a treat. We invited 12 of her classmates/neighbours and the party was Saturday evening, 6 until 8. Spent ages carving pumpkins, decorating, bought plenty of food and goodies and had numerous games lined up.

So Saturday arrives, daughter is excited! Just after 5.00pm I get a text with a cancellation due to 'issues' at home, okay fair enough. Then 5.50pm another text, another child is going away on Monday and can't come because parents are packing. 6.00pm finally arrives and our neighbours come with their daughter then my daughters best friend from school arrives. We are sat waiting and that's it, nobody else comes!! No more texts or phone calls. So I've now got a party that was supposed to have 13 children with just 3. We do get another message at 7.00pm from a parent saying they had driven, couldn't find our house and had gone back home again! No phone call to ask me to direct them!

This is the first party we've organised and I'm pretty amazed at the behaviour of these parents. Why say your child is coming then not show or let us know? I'd never, ever do this. Put me right off having anymore parties, food wasted and my daughter left upset.

Is this standard behaviour for parties now?

Funnily enough one of the parents that didn't turn up has text me this morning asking if I can have her daughter tomorrow morning as they know I'm a school worker so currently off work - no mention of the party, no apology. Needless to say I won't be helping her out anytime soon.

Sorry for the long rant, I'm just angry and gobsmacked at some people's lack of manners.
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Comments

  • To me, that just sums up a lot (note the use of a lot for the delicate and sensitive) of school mums in a nutshell.
    Self centered
    Self entitled
    and to be avoided was my experience.
    Glad my kids are grown.

    Edit.
    So sorry you and your daughter had to go through that. Manners cost nothing and seem in short commodity these days. :(
    ,
    Fully paid up member of the ignore button club.
    If it walks like a Duck, quacks like a Duck, it's a Duck.
  • Kynthia
    Kynthia Posts: 5,664
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    Just to clarify, they all accepted the invite and actually said they were coming? That's shocking then. There's always going to be a few drop outs, either with good or poor reasons, but so many without even telling you is really bad.
    Don't listen to me, I'm no expert!
  • Kynthia wrote: »
    Just to clarify, they all accepted the invite and actually said they were coming? That's shocking then. There's always going to be a few drop outs, either with good or poor reasons, but so many without even telling you is really bad.

    All bar one did rsvp which I thought was quite good at the time! I did assume we'd have a few cancellations just not as many we had. We'll be eating sausage rolls and hot dogs for the next week! Learnt my lesson, it's her birthday next month, we'll be taking her friend to Pizza Hut, certainly not having another party.
  • LilElvis
    LilElvis Posts: 5,835
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    Yes, it shows shocking bad manners from the other parents, but 6 til 8 is very late for a party for 4 year olds. The idea of getting hyped-up kids home after their bedtime may well have put some of them off.
  • janninew
    janninew Posts: 3,781 Forumite
    LilElvis wrote: »
    Yes, it shows shocking bad manners from the other parents, but 6 til 8 is very late for a party for 4 year olds. The idea of getting hyped-up kids home after their bedtime may well have put some of them off.

    Is it very late?! A Saturday evening at the start of the holidays! But if parents did think this why say you are coming?

    My daughter is a similar age OP and it's put me off! Disgusting manners in my opinion.
    :heart2: Newborn Thread Member :heart2:

    'Children reinvent the world for you.' - Susan Sarandan
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
    Holiday Haggler
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    edited 31 October 2016 at 11:44AM
    I'll say it - 6pm to 8pm is too late for a 4 year olds party. I wouldn't expect a high turn out since many children that age would be in bed at that time.

    Do you know many of the parents at the school? Did you invite the whole class?

    Party politics are painful, and i've seen some right ho-hars in the past over them. You've got to expect a drop-out/no-show rate
  • Very bad manners OP, and before accepting parents should have considered the timing.

    I do agree though that for a 4 year old the timing was off. Many probably have younger siblings and running to yours at the start of the party and then running back and getting home after 8pm may not have been ideal for the whole set up.
  • warehouse
    warehouse Posts: 3,362
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    Yeah totally agree it's disgraceful behaviour. Lesson learnt, never invite these same kids to another bash or trust their parents.
    Pants
  • FBaby
    FBaby Posts: 18,367
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    I agree that a 6 to 8pm party for a 4yo is much too late and I probably would have turned the invitation down (mine was in bed by 7pm even during week-ends), but confirming and then just not turning up? That is sooo rude.

    I read a number of threads over the years with posters reporting such bad behaviour and heard it from a few friends/colleagues which made me anxious when I used to arrange parties for my kids, but thankfully, I never had more than 1 or 2 not showing up when they said they would.

    I feel so sorry for your daughter, what a disappointing experience for a first party, but hopefully she still had a great time.
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