I love a party. Something tells me that's hardly a secret!!
There are lots of things that parents do that makes hosting a chid's party a lot easier and things they do that annoy me to the moon and back. So I thought I might share a few yays and nays for negotiating the party circuit in the hope that we can all help out a frazzled party hostess someday, somewhere...
1. Please, please, please RSVPDespite sending a reminder email both on the RSVP date and the day before the party (you know me), I didn't hear from three of the invitees. I refused to call them. Two of them showed up on the day anyway. It's annoying enough to always have to have 'back up' lolly bags and what not, but it's a whole new level of annoying when you're making individual rainbow tutus and personalising drink bottles and pots of gold.
2. Please don't bring randomsAt the Badoo's pink party we had three sibling ring-ins, two of them being 'older' kids who required a bit of loving. I don't know about you, but I would never bring my other children to a party when only one child was invited. I have, however, just that one time, been known to call a party mum and request as a favour that the extra sibling be accommodated for. It wasn't a problem for the mum and it wouldn't be a problem for me either (otherwise I would never have asked, of course!)
3. Please supervise the under fivesI was flabbergasted when a mum did a drop off at The Badoo's recent party. The child was three. I think that's way too young to leave a child with a family you don't know on party day. It's not daycare, lady. Let's face it, if the child is likely to request that the party host give them a bottom wipe at some point, they are probably too young to drop off. Personally I think school age is the appropriate age, but if you think younger is okay for your child it might be a good idea to phone ahead and make sure the party mum is happy with that arrangement.
4. Dietary requirements can kill a mumIf your child has a dislike of a particular food, have a chat to them about moving onto the next food without comment. There is nothing more defeating than to have slaved for hours to produce a party spread and having 22 children moaning and groaning in your ear about not eating one food or another (meringues! popcorn! fruit! whatever!). It's like being the mother of 22 children at dinnertime. If your child is allergic to a food, please let me know well in advance so I don't cater that food. EpiPens are not my speciality.
5. Please be on time to collectIt might be a two hour party, but it will have felt like
years to the party mum. You can bet she was wilting after one hour and ready to collapse in a corner about 15 minutes before end time. Don't make her punch through a second longer than necessary.
Are there any other helpful things that I've forgotten?
Plus, if you're keen, I wouldn't mind doing a 'how to run a children's party' post with all the boring admin details. But then, I thought it might be even more Ho Humsville than pass the parcel, so please let me know if it's something you're interested in...
