Children's Party - Rant!

supersaver2

duchy wrote: »

Because mental health issues, stress, poor self esteem ,white collar crime, infidelity and job losses never happen in nice middle class villages ?

I think you need a reality check if you really believe that.

Yes your probably right, Sam's mum has been seeing the milkman behind her husbands back therefore she couldn't bring Sam to a party. Bob has a stressful job like 99% of us so couldn't bring Ruby etc. Yes the names are made up but come on, can't people just be unorganised and lack manners, blaming stress, crime etc seems a tab far fetched to not attend a child's party.

ognum

supersaver2 wrote: »

Yes your probably right, Sam's mum has been seeing the milkman behind her husbands back therefore she couldn't bring Sam to a party. Bob has a stressful job like 99% of us so couldn't bring Ruby etc. Yes the names are made up but come on, can't people just be unorganised and lack manners, blaming stress, crime etc seems a tab far fetched to not attend a child's party.

OP, you are right, this thread has gone off track and that is mostly down to me ( I dislike superior attitudes of some posters) so I am sorry about that. As I said earlier your no show guest were lacking in manners but as I wrote before I still hope you do not stop having parties and let this colour your future fun.

Spendless

Leaving aside the issue of the timing as people have different opinions. My eldest has always considered sleeping as optional so a later party wouldn't have bothered him or me.

I see you've mentioned it being the start of the school holidays in your area. I've always found school holiday time parties tricky for invites. My youngest has a late March birthday that sometimes falls in the Easter hols. I have noticed people tend to not commit or backtrack during the holidays.

People shouldn't say they're coming and not do though! Sadly, this is commonplace for kids birthdays! When it happened to me for DDs 7th at the most expensive play area in town, I changed the way I did parties from then on. I would chose an activity that you could just turn up to (eg bowling) and have the children meet at my house and take them there, then we'd go and have McD's or kfc or pizza at a place you also pretty much just turn up to, then afterwards back to ours for birthday cake. That way I minimised any financial loss.

Andypandyboy

supersaver2 wrote: »

Yes your probably right, Sam's mum has been seeing the milkman behind her husbands back therefore she couldn't bring Sam to a party. Bob has a stressful job like 99% of us so couldn't bring Ruby etc. Yes the names are made up but come on, can't people just be unorganised and lack manners, blaming stress, crime etc seems a tab far fetched to not attend a child's party.

Op, the way this thread has gone just shows how something as innocuous and seemingly argument proof as saying accepting an invite and then just not turning up is rude, can bring out the other side of people!

It never ceases to amaze me how some posters put their own agenda into the mix.

Anyway, I suspect most of us have hair raising tales to tell of children's parties but we keep on arranging them. Take comfort from the fact that the years of such parties are quite short and then other problems will loom larger!!

AylesburyDuck

duchy wrote: »

Your own child's party is special to you but with whole class parties common in reception thirty special occasions plus any family and non school friend party invitations a year tends to mean they aren't really special occasions to other parents.

Not quite what I meant, more that Halloween is once a year so classed as special, other partys at other times of the year are irrelevant to the thread seeing as it needed to be dark for pumpkins ect and to scene set as the OP has already stated.
Each to their own though, anybody who thought it too late should have said so with their regrets, not a yes and ignorance/rudeness on the date.

Loz01

Sadly people are very rude and self entitled. I'd stick to getting your little girl to pick one special friend and taking the two out for a day pizza/bowling/cinema whatever it may be. Cheaper and at least you know she'll turn up!!!

peachyprice

Spendless wrote: »

I see you've mentioned it being the start of the school holidays in your area. I've always found school holiday time parties tricky for invites. My youngest has a late March birthday that sometimes falls in the Easter hols. I have noticed people tend to not commit or backtrack during the holidays.

This 100%. My daughters birthday is 31st July, well into the summer holidays, after the first couple of parties where people forgot/went away/didn't get back from days out in time I gave up and had them a week before they broke up for summer so that I could see people on the Friday at school and they would have to face me on the Monday if they didn't bother turning up! She's 15 now, she still won't have a birthday event during summer hols.

Op, it was rude for them to not turn up, but the timing was bad, I hope refusing to let your daughter have another party is just a knee jerk reaction, it would be a shame if you didn't let her have one again because of bad manners on some parents part and bad planning on yours.

janninew

peachyprice wrote: »

This 100%. My daughters birthday is 31st July, well into the summer holidays, after the first couple of parties where people forgot/went away/didn't get back from days out in time I gave up and had them a week before they broke up for summer so that I could see people on the Friday at school and they would have to face me on the Monday if they didn't bother turning up! She's 15 now, she still won't have a birthday event during summer hols.

Op, it was rude for them to not turn up, but the timing was bad, I hope refusing to let your daughter have another party is just a knee jerk reaction, it would be a shame if you didn't let her have one again because of bad manners on some parents part and bad planning on yours.

I think the OP said they will be having a night out having a pizza with daughters friends, don't blame them not having another party like this, especially if it would be the same rude people invited. Also 'bad planning' on behalf of the OP, a little harsh! I'd imagine plenty of planning with food/decorations happened and all for nothing.

supersaver2

peachyprice wrote: »

This 100%. My daughters birthday is 31st July, well into the summer holidays, after the first couple of parties where people forgot/went away/didn't get back from days out in time I gave up and had them a week before they broke up for summer so that I could see people on the Friday at school and they would have to face me on the Monday if they didn't bother turning up! She's 15 now, she still won't have a birthday event during summer hols.

Op, it was rude for them to not turn up, but the timing was bad, I hope refusing to let your daughter have another party is just a knee jerk reaction, it would be a shame if you didn't let her have one again because of bad manners on some parents part and bad planning on yours.

I do resent the bad planning dig. Parents that said their children would attend last week were completely aware of the timing, it was on the invite. I spent a fair amount on food, party bags and prizes for games. I did an awful lot of planning thank you! And indeed I won't be in a rush to repeat this experience, I'll stick to taking a couple out for tea and cinema.

Spendless

I think the bad planning was about the school holiday timing not just the pm time. I don't think it was meant harshly, just pointing out from those of us who've already been there, that school holiday birthdays need extra planning put into them.

It's no criticism of the OP, her child is 4, how would she know.