What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter went to a preschool classmate’s birthday party that was camping-themed and held in a park in November, at dusk, right after it had rained. It was cold, muddy, and we had to hike about 20 minutes through wet, slippery leafy trails to get to the site. Most of the parents ended up with ruined shoes.

The party spot was right next to a steep creek drop-off, so I spent most of the time making sure no one’s kid fell in. When it got dark, they handed out headlamps, but not enough for every child, and then started making s’mores over an open flame… with a bunch of 3 year-olds. There was no cake, just s’mores, and the only food was a single hotdog per kid. It was definitely a memorable experience, just maybe not in the way they intended.

I think this is a great idea for a party theme. But, obviously, for 7-8 year olds plus a few other adjustments.

[Anonymous]

Hmm...when my son was in pre-school, we had his party at one of those indoor Romp n' Roll places.

Problem was the night before, he came down with strep, so we had to cancel. Had a hard time getting a hold of all the parents, so I stationed myself at the place to let folks that we missed it was canceled.

We were able to reschedule. So, much less worse than goats eating the cake and mudpits, etc.

[Anonymous]

Some karate place in ashburn. They don’t stop spamming and calling you after attending a boring birthday party.

[Anonymous]

As a newbie parent, I scheduled my toddler’s birthday party at our neighborhood park (only about six families, very casual). It started raining about an hour before. My house was a mess, so I rescheduled for the afternoon at my house so I could clean while my son napped. Only a couple people came. The party/hangout was fine, but I felt like an idiot/realize I was rude not being prepared and changing the time.

[Anonymous]

My own worst experiences as a kid were attending some sleepover parties where I didn’t know the party kid very well or all of the guests very well. I do have some fond memories of sleepover parties (and certainly sleepovers with my best friends), but I have some bad ones. These occurred in upper elem/early middle school and ranged from uncomfortable (lying awake as girls I wasn’t friends with talked and laughed) to things that disturbed me for a while (showing body parts to other girls in truth or dare).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These are hilarious. Although I have to say I have been to and hosted multiple playground parties for kids age 4 through 8 and all have been perfectly fine playing on the equipment and eating snacks or pizza plus cake. Standard run time was 2 hours start to finish and sometimes the kids would stay later, but once the cake was served that was it and the party officially wrapped up.

+1. this is the way to do a kids party.

In general, 2 hours is the right timeframe for a party. And there should be food and drinks for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We booked a party at a kid venue and paid. When we showed up for the party the venue was shut and dark. Lots of phone calls later I finally reached someone and found out they'd written our party down for the wrong date. Completely their mistake. The date on the signed contract was correct.

I had 20 8-year olds standing in a parking lot for over an hour until someone from the site finally showed up. They did eventually host an abbreviated party for us and and agreed to refund what we paid. But then it took them many months and dozens of phone calls to get a refund. So slimy. Yeah. It was a YMCA.

My kid's best friend had a similar issue. Mom booked a place, everyone showed up, no one there. She finally got through to someone who was like, oh, someone's supposed to be there, sorry! The owner showed up eventually, but it ended up being a truncated party because the venue was scheduled for other things after the party. The kids had a good time, but I felt bad for mom because it was stressful.

[Anonymous]

Girls were camping in tents in the birthday girl's yard. The birthday girl had gotten a some kind of cute mini breed of puppy for her birthday, and the dog was snuggled into her sleeping bag while everyone in the tent was playing with a Ouja board. Then another girl entered the tent and dove onto the sleeping bag. The dog was horribly injured and had to be euthanized AND another girl fell on something outside in the mayhem and needed stitches in her leg. One parent took the mortally injured, crying puppy to the vet, and the other parent went along with the bleeding girl's parents to the ER for stitches.

Terrible. Years later, the

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Girls were camping in tents in the birthday girl's yard. The birthday girl had gotten a some kind of cute mini breed of puppy for her birthday, and the dog was snuggled into her sleeping bag while everyone in the tent was playing with a Ouja board. Then another girl entered the tent and dove onto the sleeping bag. The dog was horribly injured and had to be euthanized AND another girl fell on something outside in the mayhem and needed stitches in her leg. One parent took the mortally injured, crying puppy to the vet, and the other parent went along with the bleeding girl's parents to the ER for stitches.

Terrible. Years later, the

Terrible. Years later, the girls still talk about this horrible night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lazy river pool party for 14-year-olds. Put “free admission” on the invitation so guests would know not to pay.

One girl’s dad showed up with her two younger sisters and set up under the reserved-area tables with umbrellas. He cheerfully said that mom and invited girl would be along soon.

I had to tell him that admission was free only for the 25 invited guests. He went and paid his admission, they stayed, and invited girl and mom never showed up.

He was there to look at other 14 year old girls in their bathing suits. Bet money