Going home hungry after birthday parties

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are going to a party from 12:30-2 and was told by the host there will be no lunch served. I was steaming. That is lunchtime, my dc will be hungry so I have to carry lunch with me for him. What are thinking.

they were thinking you could eat lunch at noon (what?) or eat on the way there, its called a drive-through. or if you dont eat fast food pack a little lunch bag with a sandwich and a cheese stick and an apple
what are you people going to do when your kids have evening activities when they are older? write the coach a note that snowflake will be late for practice due to a scheduled dinner time?

Not all birthday parties are right next door to your house. If we ate lunch at noon at home, we'd be late for the party.

12:30-2 is smack in the middle of lunch time. Can't believe they don't plan on serving lunch.

If I was financially strapped, I would host a smaller party and serve food to fewer guests. You don't have to invite the whole class. Small sandwiches or pizza really doesn't cost that much.

PP here. Yes that's why I think this party from 12:30-2 with no food is crazy. We will be driving during lunchtime. I either have to feed my DS early lunch or carry lunch with me and give it to him at the party. Both don't sound good. I don't know why the host did it. My son is good friends with the b'day girl so we are going but I am so inclined to call in with an excuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably the host reads DCUM and is afraid to serve anything other than organic carrots and water to avoid offending the sensibilities of the guests. Seriously, you can't win.

I was wondering the same thing. Nothing with eggs, peanuts, strawberries, dairy products, juice, wheat and gluten free. Of course, they aren't serving food because water is the only safe thing to serve and some of you would complain about this.

Nah, just avoid nut products because it's easy to do, it's a common allergy, and the chance of cross-contamination is high and deadly. Parents whose kids have other food allergies are used to bringing food with them. It's nice if your party is small and you know a kid as an allergy to avoid that particular food, but if you've invited 20 kids to some event, parents aren't going to expect a special meal.

[Anonymous]

I can tell you that as the mom of a DS allergic to milk, parties stink. No pizza, no cake, no ice cream, no milk boxes, no Cheetoes, no Doritos. You think milk isn't everywhere, but it is, and you think it's easy "just to pack him a lunch and bring it and we understand". What happens in practice is he leaves every party hungry or eats before he goes. Or we just don't attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had to stop to get fast food after a birthday party today.

Since when did parents stop serving food at birthday parties?

All the parties we have gone to in the past served at least pizza. I always serve full meals at our parties.

So you expect them to feed you, too? Personally, I'd rather feed my kids something healthy before instead of relying on others to cheap out on Domino's or Papa John's.

Good Lord, lady, man up and feed your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can tell you that as the mom of a DS allergic to milk, parties stink. No pizza, no cake, no ice cream, no milk boxes, no Cheetoes, no Doritos. You think milk isn't everywhere, but it is, and you think it's easy "just to pack him a lunch and bring it and we understand". What happens in practice is he leaves every party hungry or eats before he goes. Or we just don't attend.

Poster you're responding to. I sympathize, really, as celiac disease runs in our family. What stinks is the allergy. The parties are just one more aspect of dealing with a unfortunate health problem. I don't expect hosts to accommodate us and frankly, with celiac, I wouldn't trust someone else's food anyway because gluten is so pervasive and most people don't understand. Sounds like your DS's milk allergy is similar.

[Anonymous]

DS and i went to a birthday party last year in McLean. The hosts were obviously wealthy. The only food they had were goldfish crackers and grapes which they served in a communial bowl which was being rifled through by toddlers who were sticking their fingers in their mouths and then back in the bowl. Really gross. Other than that, there was nothing else for the parents who just stood along the wall looking really bored. I was chuckling at the mother who was following all the kids around with a Dustbuster to pick up fallen goldfish crackers.

DH and DS went to another birthday party at the home of a colleague of more modest means. The family (in-laws, aunts, etc) cooked dishes to serve everyone...adults and children. There was no formal "entertainment" but everyone still had a good time and no one went home hungry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are the GUESTS' manners in this thread? Why not be gracious about the amount of effort hosting is and think "that's nice they invited me." Seems to me that is someone opens their house and goes to the trouble of organizing a party, guests could be happy about that and a less b*tchy about some of these other details...

I always make sure we eat at home before going to a party (either breakfast, lunch, or a heavier snack) bc I usually don't like much the party food, and prepare to mingle than eat ravenously, but still, I appreciate the snacks / nibbles that are put out.

IMO if someone goes through the trouble of organizing a party, they should throw out something for guests to at least nibble on. I have never been to a party where there was no food, I never hosted a party with no food, and cannot understand why it is so tough to throw some crackers / cheese at least on a table for those guests who may be hungry. Guests' manners in this thread are there, it may be safe to assume that the posters above said nothing other than 'thanks, what a wonderful party, we had so much fun' to their ungracious hosts. Why organize a party around lunch time and not offer at least some food? I would find it strange.

holy cow!ungracious hosts?! Who knew that inviting you and your rug rat over for a few hours of kiddie fun to celebrate the anniversary of THEIR could was ungracious? Of course its ALL about you, your ankle biter, and your stomach. That's definitely a gracious guest right there!

FYI--grace is not limited to what you do/say in front of others, its how you carry yourself through life (even behind closed doors and on anonymous forums).

[Anonymous]

I went to one of these last month. It was a 1 year old's party from 12 to 2 with chips/dip and hummus. I specifically told DH not to eat beforehand because I thought there would be a real lunch (pizza or sandwiches or something) At that age, it's all about the adults, so I was surprised there wasn't more food served. Looking at this thread, I guess it's more common than I thought.

[Anonymous]

10:52, I appreciate that. Really my point was that if DS can manage, so can a few parents.

[Anonymous]

I went to a wedding a few years ago and both DH and I left there hungry. We had to hit a drive-through on our way home. Bottom line is there are cheap hosts in many contexts and you just have to deal with it.

[Anonymous]

We had a party at a nature center that only allowed cake. I made that clear on the invitation so that people weren't expecting food.

Similar to this PP, we had a party at a park where we had to bring everything in on foot for a LONG way, so I had the party from 2-4 on purpose so that we wouldn't have to bring in a ton of food. We still served watermelon, pretzels/other munchees, juice/milk/water, and cake. Drop off so no parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We had a party at a nature center that only allowed cake. I made that clear on the invitation so that people weren't expecting food.

Similar to this PP, we had a party at a park where we had to bring everything in on foot for a LONG way, so I had the party from 2-4 on purpose so that we wouldn't have to bring in a ton of food. We still served watermelon, pretzels/other munchees, juice/milk/water, and cake. Drop off so no parents.

Well, you chose such a place -- no one forced you. So don't get carried away patting yourself on the back for providing some snacks. Big deal.

[Anonymous]

Wow, there are some seriously hostile guests out there. Calling someone for task for picking a nature center as a venue? (I'd have thought that'd be a perfectly lovely venue, especially for a kid who likes animals, like frogs or snakes.) Complaining that you had to buy your precious cutie pie a meal on the way home from a party? (Because that's oh-so-much effort and it might kill you to have to buy a meal after a party?) Snarky that a host put out goldfish crackers in a bowl that everyone reaches into? (It's a pretty popular thing to do for toddlers.)

I think you ladies should stop accepting invitations, because you are obviously very dissatisfied with the way that many parents are electing to do things.

[Anonymous]

OMG, ENTITLED MUCH! There is no law saying food has to be served to fill your bellies at a party. Eat beforehand and just shut up, OR DO NOT GO TO PARTIES!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

seriously! I went to a baby shower and all they had was a little tray of finger sandwiches which disappeared within 30 minutes. this was a really long shower and we left starving. it sucks, but it happens.