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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the preschool parties where the parents have to stay and make awkward small talk in the living room, there’s nothing to eat or drink for adults because “the party is from 2-4 and the cupcakes are just for the kids, I figured all the adults would eat beforehand!” The host’s house is completely open/nothing blocked off and no planned entertainment like a party princess or even games other than eventually singing happy birthday, so you’re either following your kid around awkwardly the whole time or hoping they’re not getting into trouble, and they have multiple dogs, one of which isn’t good with strange kids and of course isn’t crated. Bonus points if the hosts and most of the guests speak another language. Although usually those parties have awesome food.

An invitation isn’t a summons

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was a five year old’s birthday party, and it was the first birthday party we attended after moving to nyc. Larla’s mom and aunt had arranged activities for the kids, which included going around the room and everyone saying what they liked best about Larla, including the parents. Mind you, this was an early September birthday and we were less than a week into a new school, so the kids barely knew Larla and most of the parents there had laid eyes on her for the first time. Then the kids played BINGO, except it was LARLA. Finally, they decorated paper plates with a photo of Larla printed on them. My husband was like wtf did we get ourselves into. On the plus side, larla’s party really bonded the other parents. We still talk about it and it was 11 years ago.

I'm guessing Larla is a total nightmare now. Am I right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid sad over smashed pinata that grandma had him make with her to match the theme of the party. I expected this would go badly and it did.

😂 This is the most judgmental description of a grandparent/grandchild activity that I have ever seen (most people would have written that kid was sad over smashed piñata that was made with grandma). 🤣🤣

OK, you plan an entire party that was ruined because grandma didn't listen to you when you said that your kindly, sweet little boy would cry when forced to ruin something he spent hours making in the shape of a character he loved. I also had to keep the battered pinata around for a while until it could be thrown out without more sadness.

Grandma often was more concerned with what she wants to do than how others feel about it. The little guests were pretty vicious and greedy about it as well. The meanest kid scooped up about half the candy while my kid hung back crying.

Also you just haven't lived if my sad pinata story is the judgiest grandparent/grandchild story you've ever read. If grandma had made a ball or a star instead of an animal, it would have not been a problem at all. Making a character pinata gave the whole thing an unnecessary "clubbing a baby harp seal" vibe. But no. She had to make one to match the party theme. Because that was more important than my kid's potential sadness. I was a tougher kid. I would have told her I would not make a character.

Also I'm partly at fault because I did not want to keep a 2x2 ft paper mache pinata forever. So I required it to be used for the intended purpose.

You weren't partially at fault -- you were completely at fault. It doesn't sound like your son was unhappy to do this project with grandma. It sounds like he enjoyed it and didn't want to see it ruined. So you should have bought another pinata and saved the one he made, at least for as long as you save any of his art work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter had a pool party at a pool with life guards and we invited a family with twins. Mom dropped the girls off and didn't tell me they couldn't swim. We were able to get them life jackets and I stayed in the pool to make sure they were safe but it was very nerve wracking.

FWIW, I can't swim and have never worn a life jacket in a pool and always been fine splashing around in the shallow end. No need for a lifeguard, parent and a life jacket! You kind of went overboard there.

It was other people's children. I wasn't going to be responsible for them drowning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband banned us from doing piñatas. Always some drama. Kids and I would make them together and have so much fun planning and constructing and 90% of kids loved it but pretty much every time it was an incredibly stressful activity to run and often someone ended up in tears.

When my kids were little I would keep a “backup” bag of candy in my handbag. Anytime there was stress or tears, I’d be like “Look at all the candy that fell over there!” (and drop a bunch of KitKats)

Kids do age out of it surprisingly fast. The piñata years are short and stressful lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a host or a guest. Curious as I plan for an outdoor summer party.

Went to bday party for a kid from child's class in 3rd grade. A bunch of the other kids' parent rsvp'd yes, but we were the only ones to actually show.

yes, he was the problem child in the class, but he was in no way mean or a bully, just really hyperactive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son's 3rd birthday party. His pre-school friends all came. Parents stayed except for the mom who dropped her son off and gave me a bag of clothing "in case he has an accident because he's still potty training". 20 minutes after she left he was there with soaked pants. An hour later he wet his back up pants so I provided him with a pair of my son's pants. Honestly- the party was fun for all of the kids but couldn't believe the poor kids parents would do such a thing.

Did you ever take the kid to the bathroom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly there shouldn’t be any pool parties for kids under like 8-9 years old. So many parents just drop off their kids who can’t swim. it’s truly unbelievable. But it’s also irresponsible to host a pool part for very young kids IMO. Just isn’t worth it.

Pool parties make me nervous. A 6 year old died at a swimming birthday party at the same expensive indoor pool/fitness club where my oldest took his first swimming lessons. There were a lot of people in and around the pool and the girl wasn't noticed and quickly succumbed. She was alive when removed from the pool but didn't survive.

Did they have a lifeguard?

Yes. Possibly two. But younger people. There was a lawsuit. It wasn't a family that I knew. It was covered in the newspapers.

I've heard of at least one similar tragic situation at a kids' franchised swim school party.

My husband was a lifeguard. That's why I notice these things. I feel the extra excitement of a party in a novel space then adding water is a bit much. I'd prefer a bounce place party to a swim party. And when my kids were small I stayed at the parties and got in the bounce houses with them. Because sometimes bigger kids like to knock the little ones down by jumping unpredictably. Then they get hurt and cry.

It depends on the swim school. We had two at our party. They did a swim test for the kids for the deeper end. There was a rope and a few parents went inside to help too including my spouse. I’m assuming it was something like this. https://www.themitchellchangfoundation.org/post/what-i-learned-from-my-son-drowning-at-a-swim-school

There is a huge range in quality of lifeguard training. County and Red Cross are stricter. The private ones pretty much pass every one. When my daughter applied to one pool before hiring, she went in for rescue testing. Private pools with pool companies hire anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid sad over smashed pinata that grandma had him make with her to match the theme of the party. I expected this would go badly and it did.

😂 This is the most judgmental description of a grandparent/grandchild activity that I have ever seen (most people would have written that kid was sad over smashed piñata that was made with grandma). 🤣🤣

OK, you plan an entire party that was ruined because grandma didn't listen to you when you said that your kindly, sweet little boy would cry when forced to ruin something he spent hours making in the shape of a character he loved. I also had to keep the battered pinata around for a while until it could be thrown out without more sadness.

Grandma often was more concerned with what she wants to do than how others feel about it. The little guests were pretty vicious and greedy about it as well. The meanest kid scooped up about half the candy while my kid hung back crying.

Also you just haven't lived if my sad pinata story is the judgiest grandparent/grandchild story you've ever read. If grandma had made a ball or a star instead of an animal, it would have not been a problem at all. Making a character pinata gave the whole thing an unnecessary "clubbing a baby harp seal" vibe. But no. She had to make one to match the party theme. Because that was more important than my kid's potential sadness. I was a tougher kid. I would have told her I would not make a character.

Also I'm partly at fault because I did not want to keep a 2x2 ft paper mache pinata forever. So I required it to be used for the intended purpose.

You weren't partially at fault -- you were completely at fault. It doesn't sound like your son was unhappy to do this project with grandma. It sounds like he enjoyed it and didn't want to see it ruined. So you should have bought another pinata and saved the one he made, at least for as long as you save any of his art work.

Not the point of pinatas. Grandma could have prevented all of this by being more considerate and listening. Grandma knows my house is too small to store a pinata the size of a carnival stuffie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid sad over smashed pinata that grandma had him make with her to match the theme of the party. I expected this would go badly and it did.

😂 This is the most judgmental description of a grandparent/grandchild activity that I have ever seen (most people would have written that kid was sad over smashed piñata that was made with grandma). 🤣🤣

OK, you plan an entire party that was ruined because grandma didn't listen to you when you said that your kindly, sweet little boy would cry when forced to ruin something he spent hours making in the shape of a character he loved. I also had to keep the battered pinata around for a while until it could be thrown out without more sadness.

Grandma often was more concerned with what she wants to do than how others feel about it. The little guests were pretty vicious and greedy about it as well. The meanest kid scooped up about half the candy while my kid hung back crying.

Also you just haven't lived if my sad pinata story is the judgiest grandparent/grandchild story you've ever read. If grandma had made a ball or a star instead of an animal, it would have not been a problem at all. Making a character pinata gave the whole thing an unnecessary "clubbing a baby harp seal" vibe. But no. She had to make one to match the party theme. Because that was more important than my kid's potential sadness. I was a tougher kid. I would have told her I would not make a character.

Also I'm partly at fault because I did not want to keep a 2x2 ft paper mache pinata forever. So I required it to be used for the intended purpose.

You weren't partially at fault -- you were completely at fault. It doesn't sound like your son was unhappy to do this project with grandma. It sounds like he enjoyed it and didn't want to see it ruined. So you should have bought another pinata and saved the one he made, at least for as long as you save any of his art work.

Not the point of pinatas. Grandma could have prevented all of this by being more considerate and listening. Grandma knows my house is too small to store a pinata the sistuffed.carnival stuffie.

Also...Grandma came up with this bad idea on her own. I did not ask her to plan any of the party. She arrived at our house with this plan, I advised her that it was likely to be a problem, we had days to enjoy the pinata's looks before the party, and I took pictures of it to preserve so that its looks could be enjoyed permanently. Hopefully, PP, you would expect a large pinata to be used for its intended purpose. It's not a charming behavior to inflict your craft projects on people who would rather not have them. But that's a whole nother DCUM thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid sad over smashed pinata that grandma had him make with her to match the theme of the party. I expected this would go badly and it did.

😂 This is the most judgmental description of a grandparent/grandchild activity that I have ever seen (most people would have written that kid was sad over smashed piñata that was made with grandma). 🤣🤣

OK, you plan an entire party that was ruined because grandma didn't listen to you when you said that your kindly, sweet little boy would cry when forced to ruin something he spent hours making in the shape of a character he loved. I also had to keep the battered pinata around for a while until it could be thrown out without more sadness.

Grandma often was more concerned with what she wants to do than how others feel about it. The little guests were pretty vicious and greedy about it as well. The meanest kid scooped up about half the candy while my kid hung back crying.

Also you just haven't lived if my sad pinata story is the judgiest grandparent/grandchild story you've ever read. If grandma had made a ball or a star instead of an animal, it would have not been a problem at all. Making a character pinata gave the whole thing an unnecessary "clubbing a baby harp seal" vibe. But no. She had to make one to match the party theme. Because that was more important than my kid's potential sadness. I was a tougher kid. I would have told her I would not make a character.

Also I'm partly at fault because I did not want to keep a 2x2 ft paper mache pinata forever. So I required it to be used for the intended purpose.

You weren't partially at fault -- you were completely at fault. It doesn't sound like your son was unhappy to do this project with grandma. It sounds like he enjoyed it and didn't want to see it ruined. So you should have bought another pinata and saved the one he made, at least for as long as you save any of his art work.

Not the point of pinatas. Grandma could have prevented all of this by being more considerate and listening. Grandma knows my house is too small to store a pinata the sistuffed.carnival stuffie.

Also...Grandma came up with this bad idea on her own. I did not ask her to plan any of the party. She arrived at our house with this plan, I advised her that it was likely to be a problem, we had days to enjoy the pinata's looks before the party, and I took pictures of it to preserve so that its looks could be enjoyed permanently. Hopefully, PP, you would expect a large pinata to be used for its intended purpose. It's not a charming behavior to inflict your craft projects on people who would rather not have them. But that's a whole nother DCUM thread.

PP I’m sorry for your kid and it wasn’t a great plan by your mom but you really could have said no. I would not have agreed to this even if my mom ambushed me.

That said I really hated the one time we did a piñata, just a regular store bought one. It was absolutely chaos and one kid was shoving others and being a little crazy. Never again.

The only other one I regret was a party that involved a two complicated activity that most guests didn’t end up enjoying. It wasn’t terrible though.

Most parties we have attended have been mostly good with one or two unpleasant moments (like one where the mom dropped the cupcakes…)

[Anonymous]

My 9 year daughter was invited to a birthday that was for 4 hours. I thought that was odd since the girls were friends, I went to the party. They had a craft station and a tiny bounce house that would not fit the entire party. The invitation said drop off or stay. Since I knew the mom, I stayed for about 20 minutes to socialize and then left. Well about two hours in the mom messages everyone to say the party was over early. She apparently ran out of things for the kids to do and as predicted the kids were arguing over who was using the bouncy house. Very weird day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid sad over smashed pinata that grandma had him make with her to match the theme of the party. I expected this would go badly and it did.

😂 This is the most judgmental description of a grandparent/grandchild activity that I have ever seen (most people would have written that kid was sad over smashed piñata that was made with grandma). 🤣🤣

OK, you plan an entire party that was ruined because grandma didn't listen to you when you said that your kindly, sweet little boy would cry when forced to ruin something he spent hours making in the shape of a character he loved. I also had to keep the battered pinata around for a while until it could be thrown out without more sadness.

Grandma often was more concerned with what she wants to do than how others feel about it. The little guests were pretty vicious and greedy about it as well. The meanest kid scooped up about half the candy while my kid hung back crying.

Also you just haven't lived if my sad pinata story is the judgiest grandparent/grandchild story you've ever read. If grandma had made a ball or a star instead of an animal, it would have not been a problem at all. Making a character pinata gave the whole thing an unnecessary "clubbing a baby harp seal" vibe. But no. She had to make one to match the party theme. Because that was more important than my kid's potential sadness. I was a tougher kid. I would have told her I would not make a character.

Also I'm partly at fault because I did not want to keep a 2x2 ft paper mache pinata forever. So I required it to be used for the intended purpose.

How old was your child and did he not know what a Piñata was?

[Anonymous]

A kid was so terrified of the worker in the Chuck E Cheese costume that he puked all over the table, his cake, himself. That was bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a host or a guest. Curious as I plan for an outdoor summer party.

Went to bday party for a kid from child's class in 3rd grade. A bunch of the other kids' parent rsvp'd yes, but we were the only ones to actually show.

yes, he was the problem child in the class, but he was in no way mean or a bully, just really hyperactive.

That makes me so sad. Poor kid.

PSA to everyone: if you rsvp yes, you need to actually attend!