Opinion - leaving kids at a birthday party?

[underpants]

Yesterday we went to a birthday party for a friend of Josie's.

20 minutes in to the 2 hour party I asked my wife, "Hey where are ******'s parents?"

"The left"

Yep they left, showed back up at 2.

I don't know if that was cleared with the birthday boy's folks or not.

Does that seem odd/weird/rude to anyone?

[jesus_of_suburbia]

1. How old is Josie?

[underpants]

3. 5 on Thursday

FIVE!!!

her best friend was born 4 days earlier.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

5. I think it probably depends on whether or not the parents knew the family they were leaving their

child with.

I know I went to a birthday party when I was 5 or 6 and my mom left me for 2 hours or so (but this was in the 80's). She knew the family and they lived about a mile away.



I guess it depends on the circumstances.

[Sanity Claws]

2. No, not odd or rude

The party was for the kids, not the parents, right?
How old are the kids? If they are out of diapers, I really don't see the problem.

[underpants]

4. right around 5

it was a 5th birthday party

[Mr. Ected]

6. I'd say it's common practice

Though the courteous thing to do is to clear it with the birthday child's parent(s) prior to leaving.

We once had a little boy attend my son's 9th birthday party. They dropped him off. He didn't bring a present. The invitation clearly said the party ended at 6:00. His parents didn't come to retrieve him until 10:30 that night.

In that time, the little boy broke my son's "main" birthday present.

Typing this, I realize I'm still steaming over that.

[mnhtnbb]

7. It seems odd to me that parents of 5 year olds would stay at a party

unless it was specifically requested.

But, my youngest turned 5 in 1995. I never expected parents to stay
at birthday parties at that age.

[Kali]

8. more odd that parents would stay

unless that was the plan in the first place? Only host parents (usually just the Mom) when I was a kid and usually no parents when mine were small...???

There were a few wholefamdamly bbqs and such but not for regular kids bday party

[carlyhippy]

9. It would depend on whether or not I knew the kid and parents

and if my kid wanted me to stay, if they felt comfortable if I stayed or left.

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. Most parents seem to leave. I used to stay because a) my kids can get wild, b) it's

helpful to the host parents to have some back up, and c) I didn't always know the parents that well so I felt more comfortable staying. The boys are older now and people don't do the "invite every kid in the class" parties any more, so it hasn't been an issue for a while now.

[noamnety]

11. For me the the norm is no parents staying.

If we invited 5 kids over, I'd expect to have to dig up chairs for 5 kids plus our family, and I'd be expecting to provide food, chairs and space for just the 5 kids - not 5 kids plus 10 parents.

I'd about have a heart attack if a whole mob showed up expecting to be fed and entertained!

[XemaSab]

12. I can't recall any parents other than the host family staying

after I was in grade school.

[MiddleFingerMom]

13. I'm with the "surprised and dismayed (if I'm the host) if the parents stayed" group...

.
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...because from my childhood experiences (though this was around 1960 on), parents
dropped their kids off and picked them up -- though NEVER at 10:30 later that night.
I'da been fucking FURIOUS with those parents... and had it out with them then and
there (out of earshot of their child, of course).
.
.

[demmiblue]

14. From my experience, many parents stayed at that age.

There was no expectation either way, though.

Personally, I found it to be a great opportunity to get to know other parents.

[Book Lover]

15. Nope - it seems that's what the norms do

Being parents of an autistic kid, all birthday parties are family affairs; I have heard other parents say that it's a relief when one of their norm kids goes to a friend's party, because they (the parents) don't have to stay and monitor.

[jobycom]

16. What's weird is that they came back for the kid.

In my experience it's normal for a parent suddenly tasting freedom like that to keep in running and never look back.

[HEyHEY]

17. Meh, my parents never cared if the folks came or went

Mom's view was if some kid's parents wanna go get some errands done while their kid was at our place it was no skin off her nose. It's not like I cared that they left and the kid was gonna be there either way.

[Rabrrrrrr]

18. In the old days, parents never stayed at birthday parties.

My parents never did, nor did any of my friend's parents.

:shrug:

[Brickbat]

19. I think it's odd when parents stay. When I plan a party, it's for the kids, and the parents are not

invited. When my kids are invited to a party, I'm pleased to have two hours to myself -- why would I want to sit around with a bunch of other people's kids?

[dropkickpa]

20. Not odd

But, in my circle of friends, we always stay because we also organize a "side party" for the parents since it's the ONLY time we ever get to hang out since we've all had kids. The kids go and do their thing, we go and do ours. For the kids whose parents aren't part of our crowd, I tell them it's no problem at all to drop the kid off and leave to run errands/have alone time/etc, but I also make it *VERY* clear that they have to pick the kid up at a specific time, especially if I don't know the child or parents well.

[Fleshdancer]

21. I prefer it when the parents leave

Little kid bday parties are excruciating enough without having to make small talk with a bunch of adults I don't know. My parents never had to deal with it when they threw my parties. Why the change?