You pick your kids up from a drop-off party ON TIME

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t see the issue. Why did you have to babysit? They probably figured the kids would go bounce after.

That's not how it works, and that was explained to them at the outset; I know this because at all these places, they explain the policy AND you have to sign a waiver. And you have a color-coded bracelet or hand stamp, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My answer depends in part on how far the party venue was from where everyone lives. Some of these party venues are almost an hour from where the kids live. And you don’t want people to stay. So they need to go home or run other errands. All of which means they may hit traffic and be late picking up. They should have texted you though once they knew they would be late.

This is incorrect, at least for this particular OP.

Anonymous wrote:WTH? My son’s birthday party (late elementary kids) was on Saturday, a drop-off party at a trampoline place (of course parents were welcome to stay). Invitation very clearly stated jump time 2-3, pizza and cake 3-4, party concludes at 4. It was that spelled out.

Welp, three out of eight kids were still there 15-20 minutes after 4. So instead of being able to simply pack up and leave, we had to monitor three additional kids with essentially nothing to do, as they couldn’t go back out to the trampoline park (you only get an hour of jump time) and we had to clear out of the party/food room, as of course the staff needed to clean and set up for the next party.

RUDE. Get your kids. Five minutes late is one thing. TWENTY minutes late? What the hell?

NP. No reasonable person reads it that way; she was clearly pointing out that they could stay if they wanted to--probably to curb the speculation, hypothetical, and whataboutism that always plagues this site when an OP doesn't provide every single possible detail and proviso.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Late parents were rude. If the venue isn’t near home, run errands close by or go for a nice long walk with a podcast or something. This isn’t hard.

But it’s not something to spend a lot of energy on. It happens and you assume the risk when you host a party.

It’s life.

+1

Yes people should be on time.

But also things happen. People are juggling multiple kids and activities and often the venues are not close by or convenient. I appreciate that they made the effort to come celebrate with my kid - that's the most important thing.

I am SO TIRED of the “juggling multiple kids” bs. You don’t have to say yes to everything. If you have so many kids that you don’t have enough people to cart them around so they get to every single party/sport/activity you’re doing something wrong. It’s not on the party host to help with that. Figure it out without inconveniencing anyone else, or simply say no.

This. Right. Here. An invitation is not a summons. If it doesn't work for you, simply decline. The end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would have been on Team OP if she had had to clean the party room. That can be stressful especially if there is a time limit. But just having to hang out for 20 minutes with 3 kids does not merit this level of anger. You hosted a party, be grateful people attended.

In my culture having end times for parties is weird. Of course I understand why they have them. But as a host you need to be a little gracious. People took time out of their weekends to celebrate your child. Seething over mildly late pickups is bizarre.

Five minutes is mildly late. Ten minutes is oh no stuff happens late. 15-20 minutes is unbelievably rude. No excuses.

[Anonymous]

If it was a kindergarten age party, I sort of get that parents might not understand how these value parties work. Otherwise yeah… 20 minutes late is pretty rude. But how did three separate kids get left that late?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NOTE: if you're having your kid's party at one of those types of places, include PICK UP INFO on the invite with the emphasis on being on time for the end.

You don't need "pick up info" when you have already stated that the party concludes at 3 p.m. It sounds like OP was deliberate in not only saying "Play time 2-3; pizza and cupcakes 3-4; party concludes at 4," but to spell out a concludes time is crystal clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's so rude OP and I don't understand why the majoiry of posters here side with them. Call or txt the host if you are running more than a couple of minutes late for whatever reason, that is the polite thing to do.

I agree it is rude BUT three out of the boy eight kids had parents pick up 20 minutes late. That is unusual and there might be some reason that isn’t clear here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP needs to relax. To come here and complain about 20 minutes when it's her kids party is just off. I dislike people who can't be punctual but the tone was totally off.

Agree. Obviously the late parents were in the wrong, but to view this as anything more than a minor annoyance is very off. It was 20 minutes of OP's life. She seems like a grumpy, uptight, very overwhelmed parent and I feel sorry for her spouse and kids.

(And no I'm not late, I'm always early and my kids complain about that.)

There was nowhere for OP and her family to be and nothing for them to do with this kid for 20 minutes. They couldn't return to the bounce area or to the party room. Standing around in a lobby not knowing what is going on does not sound fun. Party hosts have already done a lot of work to prepare and plan and execute, so the LEAST you can do when your child was included (especially in an expensive activity) is to say thank you and be prompt when dropping off and picking up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cna we all agree the trampoline places kind of suck? They're far away, some kid always gets hurt, the parking sucks later in the day. The parties are rushed and impersonal.

I don't know...maybe don't host it there? I always end up staying because there's very little to do around it and by the time I get home, I have to turn around and drive right back. People are making an effort to come celebrate your kid's day. Assume you'll have to do some child minding if you call it a drop-off party. Sorry.

I feel bad for your kids. I don't plan my kids birthday party around what me or other adults want. My kids go to these parties, have a blast, and ask for their party to be at these venues. I say yes. I'm sure someday they will prefer something different or even more low-key, but kids have a great time at these places and it's not about you, Jessica.

[Anonymous]

I would get numbers to text and give my number out to parents next time. Occasionally things happen and people run late. 3 out of 8 people seems like a high percentage of late folks though. That seems rude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so rude OP and I don't understand why the majoiry of posters here side with them. Call or txt the host if you are running more than a couple of minutes late for whatever reason, that is the polite thing to do.

I agree it is rude BUT three out of the boy eight kids had parents pick up 20 minutes late. That is unusual and there might be some reason that isn’t clear here.

Based on the careless, rude posters in this very thread, it sounds like the "it's no big deal" crowd is prevalent in this area, and enjoyed their extra 20 minutes of free babysitting to which they felt so entitled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would get numbers to text and give my number out to parents next time. Occasionally things happen and people run late. 3 out of 8 people seems like a high percentage of late folks though. That seems rude.

OP must have either the parents texts or email to be able to get them an invite not during the school year. Plus Evite prompts for the host's phone number; I would never in a million years drop my kids off at a party where I didn't have the phone number of the host! I'm surprised you would. I think it's safe to assume OP gave out her number. It's the day and age of invitations coming via text or email; this is not mail an invite to someone's house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP needs to relax. To come here and complain about 20 minutes when it's her kids party is just off. I dislike people who can't be punctual but the tone was totally off.

Agree. Obviously the late parents were in the wrong, but to view this as anything more than a minor annoyance is very off. It was 20 minutes of OP's life. She seems like a grumpy, uptight, very overwhelmed parent and I feel sorry for her spouse and kids.

(And no I'm not late, I'm always early and my kids complain about that.)

There was nowhere for OP and her family to be and nothing for them to do with this kid for 20 minutes. They couldn't return to the bounce area or to the party room. Standing around in a lobby not knowing what is going on does not sound fun. Party hosts have already done a lot of work to prepare and plan and execute, so the LEAST you can do when your child was included (especially in an expensive activity) is to say thank you and be prompt when dropping off and picking up.

This is all fine and true and OP is STILL way overreacting and needs to CTFD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP needs to relax. To come here and complain about 20 minutes when it's her kids party is just off. I dislike people who can't be punctual but the tone was totally off.

Agree. Obviously the late parents were in the wrong, but to view this as anything more than a minor annoyance is very off. It was 20 minutes of OP's life. She seems like a grumpy, uptight, very overwhelmed parent and I feel sorry for her spouse and kids.

(And no I'm not late, I'm always early and my kids complain about that.)

There was nowhere for OP and her family to be and nothing for them to do with this kid for 20 minutes. They couldn't return to the bounce area or to the party room. Standing around in a lobby not knowing what is going on does not sound fun. Party hosts have already done a lot of work to prepare and plan and execute, so the LEAST you can do when your child was included (especially in an expensive activity) is to say thank you and be prompt when dropping off and picking up.

This is all fine and true and OP is STILL way overreacting and needs to CTFD.

It's truly sad that so many parents are so rude and thoughtless. And to be honest, it shows in their kids' behavior, more often than not. Entitled, selfish, self-focused, no manners, overall rude and graceless.

[Anonymous]

I’m
With you OP. It’s rude.
I have learned over the years to put an end time 15 mins earlier than it actually is.
My kid had a pool party this summer. Started at 1215 and I was fine being at the pool until 4. I put 330 as the end time.