Children Parties: Should Parents Stay or Leave?

I’m sure we have all hosted a kids party where the parents stayed.  Have you ever wished that the parents would not stay at the party?  I often hear parents complain about parents staying or leaving at birthday parties.  I didn’t waste any time trying to talk about this hot topic.  The focus is on home parties but it also applies to kid venues.  Please no fighting in the blog arena.  Let’s keep it clean.  🙂

Why do parents stay?
If you’re hosting a kids party, you must always consider the parents.  Always be mindful, that your child is the one that has a relationship with the guest of honor (e.g. child) not the parents.  Unless you personally know the hostess, you are a stranger in the eyes of the parent.  In that respect, it’s a good thing that parents want to stay and keep an eye on their child and you.  🙂  Be honest, would you trust your child with a parent just because they go to school with your child?

Assume that the parents will stay at the party if:

  • The child is between ages 1 – 8 or whatever age the parent feels comfortable dropping the child off at a strangers house or kid venue.
  • The parents do not know or feel comfortable leaving the child with a stranger.  Remember that even though your child knows the guest of honor, you are the stranger in their eyes.  🙂
  • The child is immature or dependent on the parents.  A parent that is present at the party often times guarantees a better behaved child.  Although accidents happen, the last thing you want is for your misbehaved child to break something at someone’s home.

So you decided to drop off your kids
Please remember that an invitation to a kids party is not a FREE babysitting pass.  Whether the party is at someone’s home or a kid venue, the hostess is not your child’s caregiver, grandmother, teacher, or babysitter.  This is not the time for you to run some errands or have a date night with the hubby.  🙂 If your child is responsible enough to drop him/her off and pickup, please be sure to pick up your child promptly at the end of the party.  Remember, the parents that are hosting the party are exhausted and tired by the end of the party.  The hostess does not want to wait around for a parent that is late picking up their child.   It is recommended that parents that plan to pick up their child, arrive at the party location between 15-30 minutes before the party end time.  You don’t want to be the last parent to pick up your child and is the one holding up the hostess from leaving.

Should I stay or go?
Whether you stay or leave depends on the party location, your comfort level with the parents (hosts), and the age and maturity level of your child.  If you decide to pick up your child, please pick up your child on time and plan for emergencies.  It’s pretty hard to expect the party hostess to watch 15-25 kids bouncing off the walls.  This puts an immense about of stress, worrying, and liability on the hostess.

 

 

 

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