Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Parenting › Ages and Stages › The Childhood Years › birthday party etiquette
New Posts  All Forums:
 

birthday party etiquette

post #1 of 37
11/21/06 at 10:31pm
Thread Starter 
My ds(3) has been invited to a b'day party for another child who is turning 3.
It is being held at one of those party places with the giant inflatable things. My son has never been anywhere without me or dh, so I was worried about leaving him for the 2 hour party.
Would you assume that because the kids are only 3 that a parent is expected to stay?
I don't want to invite myself, but I also don't want to freak him out by leaving him alone.
Sponsored Links

You may also like:

Sitting or Squatting: What's Really Best in the Bathroom?
10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby
There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
post #2 of 37
11/21/06 at 10:33pm
Why don't you call the mama?
Personally I would stay, but that is me.
post #3 of 37
11/21/06 at 10:54pm
I would assume that parents are expected to stay...I would think that is the case until at least 4, but you could always ask.
post #4 of 37
11/22/06 at 12:11am
Around here the general rule of thumb seems to be that a parent is expected to stay with their child until kindergarten. However, siblings (other than small infants) are not welcome unless specifically invited or special arrangements are made.
post #5 of 37
11/22/06 at 12:14am
At three I would definately assume that parents are staying. I can't imagine being left with 15-20 three year olds at one of those bounce house places! :
post #6 of 37
11/22/06 at 1:47am
Thread Starter 
Ok, I wanted to be sure I wasn't out of line for wanting to stay. Lol, can you tell this is his first invitation to a party?
Thank you!
post #7 of 37
11/22/06 at 4:54am
We just went to one of those parties and the birthday boy was turning 7. All of the parents stayed, and in most cases it was two parents per kid! I think there were more adults there than children.

Just in case, I'd take a pair of socks. The place where we went allowed parents to get in and jump with their kids. It was a blast!
post #8 of 37
11/22/06 at 5:05am
You're expected to stay. Every parent stayed at my 5yo's birthday party. I'm assuming that next year might be the first year that parents drop off their kids, although I wouldn't care if the parents decided to stay.
post #9 of 37
11/22/06 at 5:19am
i would stay
post #10 of 37
11/22/06 at 1:51pm
At Age 3 You are expected to stay. I'm surprised the Mom didn't make that known up front.

I will stay with DS at Birthday Parties until he is ALOT older...preferably Age 10
post #11 of 37
11/22/06 at 4:54pm
I think until a child is school age parents are generally expected to stay at birthday parties... after that you'd probably want to ask the hostess.
post #12 of 37
11/22/06 at 4:58pm
I'm so glad you asked this question, this is one of the things I stress about as ds approaches the age of being invited to things. He got invited to a Halloween party and we turned it down because I had no clue what was expected of us.

(Why yes, I am extremely shy and socially awkward...how did you ever guess?)
post #13 of 37
11/22/06 at 5:39pm
Ds just had his Birthday party at an inflatable party place. Most of the parents stayed. Quite a few kids had both parents with them. I think the parents had as much fun jumping as the kids did. We also had 3 additional people who worked there playing with the kids in the inflatable area and two "party coordinators" in the party room with us.

Definately stay!!!!
post #14 of 37
11/22/06 at 5:40pm
Parents all stayed at dss's bdays until he was about 6 or 7.
post #15 of 37
11/22/06 at 5:47pm
I would not leave my 3yo at a party nor would I want to be responsible for other people's 3yo children in a large party venue, while handling my own child's party :
post #16 of 37
11/22/06 at 7:36pm
I would assume up until at least age 5 that parents are expected to stay. That's the way it works around here anyway...
post #17 of 37
11/22/06 at 11:50pm
For 3-year-olds at a place like that, I think there's no question that you would be expected to stay. I can think of very few kids who've been left at my children's birthday parties before the age of 6 or so - and I think it was usually a child we knew well, like one of the birthday child's closest friends, whose parent needed an hour or two to get some things done without their dc.

When my teenagers were younger, they were in one of those things at a big party we went to for my job, and it started to lose air, and almost collapsed. Ds (he was probably 5 then) somehow got stuck with his head between the floor and the wall, and I had to rush in and pull him out by the feet, and he was so stuck that another adult (some guy I'd never seen before) helped me pull him. I'll never forget how scary it was to see that big giraffe head dropping down when it deflated, and to go in frantically looking for my kids and see only his feet sticking out!
post #18 of 37
11/23/06 at 3:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzharmony View Post
I would not leave my 3yo at a party nor would I want to be responsible for other people's 3yo children in a large party venue, while handling my own child's party :
Ditto. And I wouldn't even want to handle other people's children in my own home - not yet.

I just hosted an outdoor Halloween Party at my home, and the children ranged in age from baby to about 5 years old. No one dropped off their child, and if they had tried to, I would have asked them to stay.

I have two children, and I had two friends there helping me watch my girls and run the party. There is no way I could have handled a drop-off party. We had a total of 17 children there with all the parents and adults, too.
post #19 of 37
11/23/06 at 3:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Learnintolaugh View Post
I'm so glad you asked this question, this is one of the things I stress about as ds approaches the age of being invited to things. He got invited to a Halloween party and we turned it down because I had no clue what was expected of us.

(Why yes, I am extremely shy and socially awkward...how did you ever guess?)
Hey there. I just hosted a Halloween Party and speaking as the one who is having the party - just ask next time what is expected of you! I would never be offended if someone asked me. I invite people because I really would like them to be there, so if there is a simple question I can answer to make them more comfortable, I'm happy to do it.

You know what else - I used to be far more shy and socially awkward myself - but having my children in the past 4 years has made me be a little more outgoing for THEIR sakes. I just cannot believe that I'm setting up parties and play dates now and actually having fun with the whole thing! Not that you have to change or that there is anything wrong with being shy - but if you are sort of on the border about it and would *like* to change, it is possible. My Dad was very shy all his life, and after a good friend died when Dad was in his 50s, he underwent a transformation. He is now the most outgoing person, very friendly and can talk to anyone in the room.

Ok, I'm off-topic now, sorry!

Back to the regularly scheduled thread...
post #20 of 37
11/23/06 at 12:05pm
we yave yet to be at a party that the parents leave. dd is 3 1/2 and everyone still stays at 4 & 5 year old parties around here.
New Posts  All Forums:
 
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: The Childhood Years
Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Parenting › Ages and Stages › The Childhood Years › birthday party etiquette