Birthday parties are a whole language to themselves, we’ve tried to decipher it here, here and here but we’re still searching for all the answers. Today Mamamia reader Lyndall* writes
“I had a party in my home for my 5 year old on the weekend, and EVERY parent dropped and ran. I had certainly not offered a babysitting service and 20 five year old children was an incredible strain on my husband and my parents!
I would have thought they should have asked if it was acceptable. Let’s not mention that some of the parents had never met me or my family yet they happily left their children in our care…. who knew what could have happened??
Also – one child had an allergy which we were only alerted to as they dropped her off – of course whe ate the wrong thing and was sick and her parents didn’t answer their phone to come and get her.
Nightmare!!”
Did your parents stay with you at parties when you were a kid? How old were you when they dropped you off?
Top Comments
I am all for the drop and run. I hate it when parents stay.
Children are easy- a few sausage rolls, vegemite sandwiches, fruit and some cupcakes on paper plates, a bit of entertainment and you're done.
Parents on the other hand, need gourmet sandwiches and constant cups of tea and also bring siblings with them. Bugger that. I have requested "drop and run" since the kids were 5. If you stay then you get given a job and have to help with the washing up.
I was recently at a 5yr olds birthday party - 32 children in total as you 'have' to invite the whole class if you hand out invitations at the school. Most of the children were aged 4-5 and more than half were 'kiss and drop' kids. Most of the children were well behaved, however during one of the games the older boys started shoving the younger boys. In a matter of seconds my son fell to the ground and two of the older boys started kicking him. Needless to say I moved like lightening, 3 month old baby in my arms and dragged my son out. He was beside himself. After a quick scout around no other parents came forward and it wasn't until a classmate came to see how my son was that he told us that the boys' parents (they were brothers) were not there. The host rang the boys parents without success. The host sat the boys out of the rest of the party (amidst swearing and abuse by the brothers) in full view of a few other parents. Whilst this incident is a little extreme, should it be the responsibility of the host to not only supervise other peoples children but discipline them aswell? I don't think so. For the record the boys' parents picked the boys up at 7pm that night because they lost track of time out on their boat!
That is exactly why parents should stay, IMO. For a tiny "party" with like 5 kids, it *might* be okay but oftentimes, there will be problems. Not every kid is well-behaved angel and if some kid starts punching another kid, what can you do if their parents are not there?