5yo alone at a bday party... should I let him go?

[ShadowMom]

I haven't had this come up before and am a bit stumped...

My ex-h called me this afternoon to tell me that DS has a birthday party tomorrow afternoon to go to (one of his classmates).

The parents are instructed to drop the kids off at their house, and then apparently the parents are going to take all of the kids to Chuck E Cheese, then bring them back to their house, and then the parents will pick them up.

I'm a little stumped on what to do. I will be at work and ex-h will drop him off at their house...

Have you had an invite for a child this young before? I haven't called and talked to the parents yet, I have no idea how many were invited or anything like that, but the whole thing seemed weird (why not just meet at Chuck E Cheese?).

Any advice on what to do?

[alegna]

I was going to say sure... until you got to the taking them to Chuck E. Cheese part....

Walking? Driving?

Driving- no way. My kid is harnessed and will still be at 5 for sure.

But I'd be fine dropping her at a birthday party for a couple of hours.

-Angela

[ShadowMom]

Driving... they live around 30-40 minutes from Chuck E. Cheese, which makes it even odder that they didn't just want to meet there.

I just looked up the car seat laws, and in Kansas you have to use a booster at 5 still, by law... so I can call in the guise of making sure they have enough booster seats to make sure they're planning on following the law...

I don't know, the idea of meeting somewhere that far away from the place, then driving all of the kids there and back, just struck me as weird.

He's just at that weird age where people seem to do drop-offs for parties, though, so this is kind of unexplored terrain for me.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Or they could be thinking... "No one is going to want to drive all that way so we'll offer to do it for them to be nice". Not weird, trying to be helpful.

Personally, I was entirely comfortable dropping my child off for parties starting at about 5 (DD is 6 now) - especially for Chuck E Cheese which I hate. For something with driving, I would definitely call and inquire about boosters and such (probably phrased, "I wanted to find out if you have extra boosters or if you needed X to bring his own?") Or, if it works for you, call and say "We would rather drive X ourselves, would it be OK just to meet you at CEC?".

[limabean]

Can your ex drop him at Chuck E. Cheese, find something to do in the area for a couple of hours, and then pick him up from CEC? I can't imagine that spending 60-90 minutes in the car (round trip) would be much fun, even for the kids. I can see a 10-minute car ride with your friends being fun, but that amount of time is a little excessive. Is some of the party taking place at the birthday boy's house? If not, I'm totally not getting why they're asking parents to drop the kids off there.

[4evermom]

I wonder if they are bringing the kids to CEC'c just to play, then having cake at their house... It sure would save a bundle.

But I'd be concerned about strangers driving my child, not being confident they wouldn't squeeze extra kids in the car or skip using booster seats.

[onlyzombiecat]

Originally Posted by ShadowMom

I haven't had this come up before and am a bit stumped...

My ex-h called me this afternoon to tell me that DS has a birthday party tomorrow afternoon to go to (one of his classmates).

The parents are instructed to drop the kids off at their house, and then apparently the parents are going to take all of the kids to Chuck E Cheese, then bring them back to their house, and then the parents will pick them up.

I'm a little stumped on what to do. I will be at work and ex-h will drop him off at their house...

Have you had an invite for a child this young before? I haven't called and talked to the parents yet, I have no idea how many were invited or anything like that, but the whole thing seemed weird (why not just meet at Chuck E Cheese?).

Any advice on what to do?

Wow! Short notice.

I would decline if you or your ex-h can not take him to Chuck-E Cheese yourselves.
I would not feel comfortable with someone I did not know very well driving my child that far and supervising an unknown number of young kids in a restaurant.

I can see doing a drop off at someone's home for a party at that location.

[mama_mojo]

I do not drop 5yo off at parties, and I certainly would not let someone else drive my children that far.

[mbbinsc]

At 5, I stayed near the restroom when DS went at places like chuckee-cheese. Too many people. But then again the CEC around here have had incidents in parking lots. I'd also want to know about smoking prior to letting my DC ride in another car.

[Mama2Bug]

I don't think I would let my child go, alone, to a birthday party 40 minutes away, especially with people I don't know well. There are too many what-ifs. At the very least, your child would be extremely difficult to reach in an emergency.

[TiredX2]

Unless it was a really close friend (I can think of three families we were close to) neither of my children would have been willing to go that long at that age. I mean, if they stay 1.5 hours at Chuck E Cheese, then 1.5 for travel (getting loaded and driving) that is a minimum of 3 hours which seems a bit long, *to me* for a 5 year old birthday party.

I would have also felt uncomfortable with someone I didn't know well driving my young child around.

I would call and offer to drive or something. We've gone to plenty of parties where driving time was 30-45 minutes and it wasn't a problem.

[ChetMC]

What We Would Do

Unless we knew the family very well, and knew they had appropriate child restraints, insurance, a reliable vehicle, etc, we would transport our child to and from the Chuck E Cheese ourselves.

I agree that they're probably trying to be helpful in not asking parents to drive 30 minutes out of their way.

[Annapooh]

Originally Posted by Evan&Anna's_Mom

Or they could be thinking... "No one is going to want to drive all that way so we'll offer to do it for them to be nice". Not weird, trying to be helpful.

Personally, I was entirely comfortable dropping my child off for parties starting at about 5 (DD is 6 now) - especially for Chuck E Cheese which I hate. For something with driving, I would definitely call and inquire about boosters and such (probably phrased, "I wanted to find out if you have extra boosters or if you needed X to bring his own?") Or, if it works for you, call and say "We would rather drive X ourselves, would it be OK just to meet you at CEC?".

Quite a probable thought. I am thinking of having dd's party about 40 minutes from home, and would plan on providing transportation for guests. I can see how you feel uneasy, but I'd bet everything is above board. Remember not all parents are as involved as you, and the hosts, probably just want to make it easier for guests to come.

[LittleBlessings]

I would want to drop off my child at Chuck E. Cheese

[KD's Momma]

Originally Posted by mama_mojo

I do not drop 5yo off at parties, and I certainly would not let someone else drive my children that far.

:

[babygrant]

If it didn't require another parent driving my child, I would let him go. But the driving 40 minutes with someone I don't know to CEC would be a no go with me.