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When our oldest son was 4, we had a party in the back yard, bounce house, games, the whole bit. To our surprise, many parents dropped off their kids, asked when it was over, and then took off with little warning. I think this is wrong on a number of levels...
1. Hosting a birthday party isn't an invitation for a free babysitter for an afternoon where your kid is fed and leaves with treats. I understand, espcially if you have other children, it's not always feasible to stay, but at least ask first.
2. 4 or 5 years old is way too young to leave your child at a birthday party. We had never met many of the parents who left, would you leave your 4 year old at, essentially, a stranger's house, outside with a bunch of other parents who you never met?
3. Even if I intended to leave my 4/5 yr old somewhere, if I saw 16 other children running around crazy, I would never leave them in that scenario. It's mass chaos, it's pretty much guaranteed your 4/5 yr old is going to be unsupervised a vast majority of the time. Hope they dont eat anything you dont know they're allergic too, or get trampled in the unsupervised bounce house.
We've seen parents leave their 5 yr olds at a birthday parties at the pool! Now that's crazy...
When our oldest son was 4, we had a party in the back yard, bounce house, games, the whole bit. To our surprise, many parents dropped off their kids, asked when it was over, and then took off with little warning. I think this is wrong on a number of levels...
1. Hosting a birthday party isn't an invitation for a free babysitter for an afternoon where your kid is fed and leaves with treats. I understand, espcially if you have other children, it's not always feasible to stay, but at least ask first.
2. 4 or 5 years old is way too young to leave your child at a birthday party. We had never met many of the parents who left, would you leave your 4 year old at, essentially, a stranger's house, outside with a bunch of other parents who you never met?
3. Even if I intended to leave my 4/5 yr old somewhere, if I saw 16 other children running around crazy, I would never leave them in that scenario. It's mass chaos, it's pretty much guaranteed your 4/5 yr old is going to be unsupervised a vast majority of the time. Hope they dont eat anything you dont know they're allergic too, or get trampled in the unsupervised bounce house.
We've seen parents leave their 5 yr olds at a birthday parties at the pool! Now that's crazy...
Did you specify on the invitation that the whole family was invited, or was it addressed to the child? If it was addressed to the child only, the parents may feel like they aren't expected to stay and like there may not be space and food for them.
Did you specify on the invitation that the whole family was invited, or was it addressed to the child? If it was addressed to the child only, the parents may feel like they aren't expected to stay and like there may not be space and food for them.
That's a good point, and if anyone would ever RSVP, that could easily be discussed. But that's a different issue in a different thread already posted here
At your house, yes...I would think the parents would just drop the kids off.
That is how it was during our childhood.
Frankly, we didn't want our parents there.
At some outside facility...I think those parents are NUTS to leave their kid in the hands of others and strangers.
Hmmm.....my take on this is very different. I would have never "expected" a parent to remain at the party unless they choose to do so. They would certainly be welcome. I would have assumed since it was my kid's party I was responsible for the other children while they were there-just as I would if they were in my home. But I also would not have invited that many children to a 5 year olds birthday party.
My rule was 1 friend for every year of age. It was manageable for me and for the birthday boy or girl.
Quote:
Originally Posted by golfgal
When our kids were that age it was still assumed that you would drop the kids off and leave and that the hosting parents would arrange for enough eyes if needed. We never assumed parents would stay at a child's birthday party.
No matter the type of party, we always felt it was our responsibility as the host to provide adequate supervision for all the children invited. I would never assume a parent was staying and I dropped my kids at many parties over the years. If I was concerned, I would ask if I needed to stay or if I felt the host did not have proper supervision again I would stay but when we hosted, we always made sure we had enough supervision for our chosen activity.
When DD was in kindergarten, we hosted a party at the local gymnastic studio. One fixed rate for up to 25 children and the studio provided enough supervision for the group size, that was part of the package.
17 kids is not unreasonable. At our school (only goes to kinder) you have to invite the whole class which at this age I think is a fine rule. I have never had siblings come unless the parent asked or if the invite said siblings welcome. I've so never had the parent leave and expect me to watch their kid. That's pretty rude when you're going to be busy with your own child's party. Kids love bounce houses but there are lots of injuries so I would politely say that you won't be able to watch the other kids and would appreciate at least one parent bring there, or an older sibling who can supervise
I don't think 17 kids is unreasonable either. No one I know has followed the one kid per year old rule.
I think it is safe to say we should never assume anything, make invitations clear, and always ask before assuming you can leave.
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