This past weekend was my daughter’s birthday party. We invited her friends from school and that was it. No family, no neighborhood friends, no kids of friends. She spends most of her time with her school friends anyway so it made sense. It wound up being fairly small (10 kids), which was fine with me. I think kids have more fun at smaller parties anyway.
Normally, her birthday parties are a time of stress but a good stress. The money isn’t an issue since I don’t care about spending money on my child’s birthday (since it is probably the most important day of the year). I don’t care about the work, effort, planning or anything like that. I will do anything for my daughter. But this year? The stress got to me. Because I’m tired of poor birthday party etiquette. It’s as if people completely forget their manners when it comes to children’s birthday parties. Maybe I was raised differently or maybe I expect too much. That’s entirely possible.
Here are a few of the situations that happened this year that pushed me to the brink:
- The party supplies I ordered from Amazon.com never arrived. 10 days before her party, I ordered the supplies–cups, plates, napkins, tablecloths, goody bags, cupcake decorations, Happy Birthday banner and something else I can’t remember right now. I ordered them from Amazon because she wanted a Care Bears party and apparently the Care Bears have been banned from my state as I could not find Care Bears anything anywhere. I even paid for the quicker shipping. Fine. No problem. What was the problem was that the important stuff–plates, cups, etc–never arrived. In fact, they still haven’t arrived. And now I have to go out of my way to FedEx when the supplies eventually do arrive and send everything back. And probably pay to do so. Oh, and let’s not forget the fact that the only place that had Care Bears anything was in Exton, PA. An hour away from my house! So what do you think I did last Saturday night? If you guessed drove to Exton, you win a prize.
- Half the invitees never even bothered with an RSVP. I get it. We’re all busy. Especially at this time of year. But I put the damn invitation in your child’s mailbox at school (well, the teacher did) so I know you got it. The fact that you can’t even bother with a quick text or email or telling me to my face when you see me at pick up or drop off makes me think one of two things: 1) you are rude or 2) you are irresponsible and forgetful. I’m not sure which of those is the least desirable quality because quite frankly, they’re all pretty bad. I know that my child’s birthday party is not high on your priority list but at least have the common, decent social courtesy of saying yes or no. You can even tell me to fuck off if you want. Just give me an answer to the party.
- Parents who sat in a corner with a scowl on their face as if attending a birthday party is akin to torture. Not all parents are outgoing, friendly people. That’s fine. I’m pretty shy myself. I’m not comfortable around people I don’t know and have never seen before (unless alcohol is involved. Then I’m everyone’s BFF), and I am terrible at small talk. However, when I bring my child to a birthday party for a child she has been in school with for almost 5 years, I at least make the attempt to have a brief conversation with the party host. At the very least, I say hello, good-bye, and thank you for having us. I can’t tell you how many parents sat with sullen, miserable looks on their faces and refused to speak to anyone. There was one in particular, let’s call him Captain Shorts, who I’m half convinced wanted to punch me in the face. If bringing your kid to a party is that bad, just say no. It works for drugs. It can work for parties, too.
- Bringing a sibling who is not friends with my child. I am all for inviting siblings to parties. As long as both siblings are friends with the birthday child. However, when I invite one child, that is not an automatic invitation to bring your older child to the party as well. It doesn’t matter that you offered to pay or that there was plenty of room. It’s the principle of the whole thing. That child was not invited. You had plenty of time to make other arrangements. If you have no family around, hire a babysitter. If you can’t afford a babysitter, try to set up a play date for your older child during the 2 hours of the birthday party. And if that doesn’t work, just bring the kid with an activity that she can do quietly in a chair during the party. Also, expecting me to feed that child is an unreasonable request. I’ll do it because it’s the right thing to do, but it’s rude of you to expect that.
- Not showing up. This has happened every year that my daughter has had a friend party. Someone will RSVP that her child will be in attendance but then, without warning, they don’t show up (let’s not get into the lack of apology the next time I see them). This irritates me to no end. It is rude, inconsiderate, and poor manners. When you make a commitment to attend a party, you show up. End of story. This year, the child who didn’t show up was supposedly “sick”. And, to her credit, the mom did try to let me know. By sending me a message on Facebook. Really?! Facebook? You have my phone number. You have my email address. Why on Earth would you use Facebook instead? And let’s not even get into the people who showed up over an hour late with absolutely no text or phone call…
Other than those few elements, the party went really well. All the kids had a blast and my daughter got her Care Bears party. Not to shabby for a 5th birthday.
At least I have about 360 to plan the next one. Maybe I should place the order with Amazon today.
Eric J. Nisall - DollarVersity says
I have a friend who has 2 little girls, and she goes through the same situation with invites and RSVP every year. For some reason, people seem to think that just receiving an invitation is all that is needed, and they have no reason to confirm their attendance. Then there are the ones that call the night before asking if the brother/sister can come too. You would think that being a parent, and having thrown parties themselves that they would know from experience what the right way to approach this would be. That may be giving people way to much credit apparently.
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Jana says
I can’t believe that people do that. It’s disgusting. It’s as if people expect the hosts to cater to their every whim and need, and basic manners go out the window. However, it is a bit comforting to know that it’s not just me this happens to!
Eric J. Nisall says
No, you are definitely not the only one, I can guarantee that!
Eric J. Nisall recently posted…Be Careful With Advice Found Online
shanendoah@the dog ate my wallet says
The parents stayed? Parents never stayed for my birthday parties. Though maybe the ones I had before the 8th were all neighborhood only. Heck, we usually tried to kick my brother out of the house for my parties, let alone someone else’s sibling coming.
Still, you gave your daughter the best birthday party you could and that’s what she’ll remember. And that’s what is really important here.
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Jana says
I think the parents stayed because of the age of the kids (4-5) and the fact that it was a swimming party. The parents staying didn’t bother me at all, actually. I like some of the other parents and it was nice to have them on hand to help with their own kids (especially changing their clothes. This is not something I wanted to do!).
Newlyweds on a Budget says
It still amazes me how inconsiderate people can be. When we got a party invitation, I always put the invitation in my planner and make a note to rsvp.
i’m surprised about amazon too. i ordered something recently for a xmas gift, and i selected the free shippinbg, and i got it in less than a week.
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Jana says
The Amazon thing was the worst. I had never had an experience like that with them before, but it was through one of those companies that is a seller through Amazon rather than Amazon itself. At least I’ll get my money back!
101 Centavos says
I’ve stayed for parties, and helped out with the games, and also dropped the boys off to pick them up later. Basic courtesy and common sense rules still apply though. Some people really are raised by badgers, it seems.
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Jana says
The lack of manners makes me crazy. It’s basic, common courtesy and it infuriates me that it escapes so many people.
Dr. Dean says
I’m glad the party went well.
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Money Beagle says
We just went to a first birthday party for a friends baby. It was chaotic but I guess all kids birthday parties are meant to be that way. We will be having our ‘first birthday party’ for our baby girl in a few months. At least it will be summer so hopefully the kids can play outside on the playset and in the yard 🙂 Sucks about Amazon not coming through. If it goes past their promised date, they should pony up the return shipping costs.
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Jana says
We’ll see what happens with that. I have to print out the return shipping label and mail it back. I have a feeling I’ll get refunded the cost minus the shipping. At least I’ll get something back!