Children's Party - Rant!

janninew

sheramber wrote: »

My grandson is 41/2. He is in bed by 7pm and falls asleep before the story is finished.

He wakes at 6 o'clock in the morning so has had a long day.

They have just been on holiday where the children's entertainment started at 7 pm and they said it was too late for him.

Maybe a slightly later bedtime would eventually result in a slightly later wake up time. 6.00am can't be much fun for mum and dad everyday!

AylesburyDuck

catkins wrote: »

Not just mums that are self centered and self entitled, it's dads too quite often.

Parents in general are getting worse. They seem to feel once they have children they are entitled to what they like and should have priority over just about everyone.

I live close to an infant school and 2 junior schools and see the parents parking (on yellow lines, fully on the pavement, over driveways that have a car on etc). I have even seen them parking on a zebra crossing. Some of them have no thought for others at all

Oh hell yes, absolutely, but strangely i found the Dads a lot easier to bear, much more laid back and approachable, some of the mothers when not making sure the universe revolved around them and their * little snots * positively looked at you down their noses like something they trod in.
I say little snots because why is it mainly always the kids that have pushy mums that seem to have permanent number 11's and no hanky, :rotfl: Yuk.

barbiedoll

To be honest, I could never bear the thought of lots of other people's kids at my house, so my son's parties were small affairs, with just 5 or 6 of his friends, all of whom turned up every time (quite often in the snow, his birthday is in January)

I have heard lots of parents moaning about this though, I think it's bad enough not turning up at a house party, but to know full well that a parent has paid for a place at a ball pit/laser gun place/fast food restaurant, and then to not turn up, is very rude indeed, not to mention bloody selfish. These things don't come cheap at the best of times. And didn't one poster say that at one time, "two extra" turned up? That's even worse!! :eek:

I agree with the timings though, a lot of my friends' children at that age would have flaked out on the sofa well before 8pm. Unlike my son, who would stay awake until at least 10-11pm (and still be up at 5.30 in the morning! :mad:)

AylesburyDuck

I'll be honest, when you have kids at school and arranging partys, your all in the same boat, it's stressful, expensive, time consuming, tantrum fueled.
When everybody knows whats its like how on earth can you consider bad manners/ appalling lack of communication,or just plain old not sowing anything in your field of (cares) as anything other than the rudest most impolite thing you could do to another parent.

freyasmum

I agree that the timing is probably a bit late for a children's party. However, my nephews - who are normally in bed come 7pm (ages 5 (yesterday, and had a party starting at 5pm on Saturday) and 7) - can outlast anyone on a special occasion! On NYE, they were running around at 2:30am with a hostess trolley feeding everyone sweets and nuts :rotfl:

It is ridiculously rude to RSVP and then just not turn up! I would never dream of it... Unfortunately there are a great many people who think that the world owes them a living and won't bother letting you know.

It's difficult explaining this to a child - paddy's mum, your story broke my heart!

barbiedoll wrote: »

I agree with the timings though, a lot of my friends' children at that age would have flaked out on the sofa well before 8pm. Unlike my son, who would stay awake until at least 10-11pm (and still be up at 5.30 in the morning! :mad:)

This is exactly like my daughter; she just doesn't seem to need sleep! Never has - and I've found myself sometimes (now that she's older) waking up on the sofa with a teddy under my arm and a blanket tucked around me! :eek: I just cannot stay awake as long as her :undecided

[Deleted User]

(My 5 year old will be in bed by 6:45-7ish and wake up at 6:15-6:45).

I usually try to chalk stuff this up to poor organisation, rather than to malice). Yes, your party was important to you and your child. It was at the weekend when people have their own priorities. It wasn't even at a particularly good time for kids of that age.

Many, many people aren't organised. Many people, if they don't really know you, won't go to the effort of making themselves organised. Many parents won't acknowledge that they missed your party because they just plain forgot about it.

Build up relationships/friendships with more of the parents. Use any associated school facebook/whatsapp groups. Time things so they are convenient for your guests and not just you.

Andypandyboy

ringo_24601 wrote: »

(My 5 year old will be in bed by 6:45-7ish and wake up at 6:15-6:45).

I usually try to chalk stuff this up to poor organisation, rather than to malice). Yes, your party was important to you and your child. It was at the weekend when people have their own priorities. It wasn't even at a particularly good time for kids of that age.

Many, many people aren't organised. Many people, if they don't really know you, won't go to the effort of making themselves organised. Many parents won't acknowledge that they missed your party because they just plain forgot about it.

Build up relationships/friendships with more of the parents. Use any associated school facebook/whatsapp groups. Time things so they are convenient for your guests and not just you.

That is a bit of a cop out though. They were organised enough to respond to the invitation. How hard is it to have a pinboard with events on it?

[Deleted User]

Andypandyboy wrote: »

That is a bit of a cop out though. They were organised enough to respond to the invitation. How hard is it to have a pinboard with events on it?

You need to weigh it up - did all the parents maliciously agree to bring their kids then not show, or are they mostly too busy and disorganised?

“Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.”

― Robert J. Hanlon

My wife and I keep an online calendar, that synchronises to both of our phones. We have a constant stream of play-dates/parties/school meetings/family events/shift patterns/work trips that we need to keep track of. I really have no clue how families that aren't hideously organised manage to survive these days.

However, I also ascribe to the Moscow Rules -

Once is an accident. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is an enemy action.

Some parents are rude people who will just constantly not reply to parties, or say they're coming and don't

carefullycautious

A lot of young children have been terrified of the 'Clown' situation so maybe this had some bearing on it

janninew

ringo_24601 wrote: »

(My 5 year old will be in bed by 6:45-7ish and wake up at 6:15-6:45).

I usually try to chalk stuff this up to poor organisation, rather than to malice). Yes, your party was important to you and your child. It was at the weekend when people have their own priorities. It wasn't even at a particularly good time for kids of that age.

Many, many people aren't organised. Many people, if they don't really know you, won't go to the effort of making themselves organised. Many parents won't acknowledge that they missed your party because they just plain forgot about it.

Build up relationships/friendships with more of the parents. Use any associated school facebook/whatsapp groups. Time things so they are convenient for your guests and not just you.

You are much more understanding than me! Bottom line is they said they'd come, they were fully aware of times, the OP bought food and supplies based on numbers that said they'd come. I'd not be carrying on bending over backwards for people like this. I can see why the OP picked 6.00pm for a party, Halloween parties are normally in evenings so pumpkins can be lit etc. My daughter had a school Halloween disco for nursery, reception and infants on Wednesday night starting at 5.45pm until 7.45pm so don't think the timing was to bad.