Anonymous
Post 07/18/2025 13:23     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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.[/quote]

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.[/quote]

Did they have a lifeguard?[/quote]

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. [b]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.[/b] Then they get hurt and cry. [/quote]

Oh I know your type PERFECTLY. lol.
Anonymous
Post 07/18/2025 13:21     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
Anonymous wrote:
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.


Every local drowning/near drowning i’ve heard about in my area (4 I think) has had a lifeguard present, but the lifeguard didn’t notice and someone else jumped in. If you think these 16 year old lifeguards are really in tune to the safety of the kids-they are not.


You don’t hear about all the times lifeguards do make a rescue, then go back on the chair.

I did four times when I was a teen lifeguard.
Anonymous
Post 07/17/2025 22:27     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A family my kids and I had known since preschool invited my two kids to a laser tag birthday party when they were in elementary. I don't trust their judgement so I usually would go and hang at their kids birthday party and help. They insisted I drop my kids at their house. They planned to ferry all the kids to the laser tag place themselves but they only had one small sedan. I offered to help drive and they refused.

It was all a ruse to allow them to only take some of the kids to laser tag. 2 hours after dropping them off, my kids call for me to come pick them up at the host's home. The parents took most of the kids to the laser place but left some of the kids behind saying they'd be back to get them. The birthday kid's big sister stayed at the house with our kids and the other one or two unlucky ones. My kids had started to call me at the one hour mark but the big sister stopped them several times. I headed to their house but big sister heard my kids call me and called her parents. Dad hightailed it to get my kids - the other kids parents had already picked them up. I got to the laser tag place before the dad showed up with my kids. The party was over and I had to wait for my kids to be ferried there for no reason. The galling thing is that the mom was furious with me because she got caught. They never apologized and were angry at me for discovering their dishonesty. They knew they couldn't get all the kids there and didn't want to pay for laser tag for all of them so they just left some of the kids.

I'm so glad they moved so I never have to see them again.




This one is fake.


I think so too for no other reason than the kids were old enough to have their own phone/watch whatever so even if the mom wasn’t called-clearly the kids are old enough to tell the parents what happened regardless if the host parents tried to hide it. Like rushing to take the kids to a laser tag place when the party is over makes no difference-they are going to tell their parents they weren’t actually at the party and didn’t play laser tag. Makes no sense whatsoever. Made up.


Again not made up. My kids had phones. The parents didn't give a flip. Our kids were no longer in school together and they thought I was a push over. They didn't expect to have to face me and my spouse.


I think we all know who the unhinged parent is in this little story you made up, and it's not the ones you made up.
Anonymous
Post 07/17/2025 22:26     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
My DD had a classmate this year who gave out handwritten (by the child) invitations on a small piece of paper a day or two before the party. We weren't sure if it was a real invitation or not. We had to text other parents who knew the family better than us to figure out if it was real or not.
Anonymous
Post 07/17/2025 22:25     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A family my kids and I had known since preschool invited my two kids to a laser tag birthday party when they were in elementary. I don't trust their judgement so I usually would go and hang at their kids birthday party and help. They insisted I drop my kids at their house. They planned to ferry all the kids to the laser tag place themselves but they only had one small sedan. I offered to help drive and they refused.

It was all a ruse to allow them to only take some of the kids to laser tag. 2 hours after dropping them off, my kids call for me to come pick them up at the host's home. The parents took most of the kids to the laser place but left some of the kids behind saying they'd be back to get them. The birthday kid's big sister stayed at the house with our kids and the other one or two unlucky ones. My kids had started to call me at the one hour mark but the big sister stopped them several times. I headed to their house but big sister heard my kids call me and called her parents. Dad hightailed it to get my kids - the other kids parents had already picked them up. I got to the laser tag place before the dad showed up with my kids. The party was over and I had to wait for my kids to be ferried there for no reason. The galling thing is that the mom was furious with me because she got caught. They never apologized and were angry at me for discovering their dishonesty. They knew they couldn't get all the kids there and didn't want to pay for laser tag for all of them so they just left some of the kids.

I'm so glad they moved so I never have to see them again.




This one is fake.


No, it's very real and the a@@holes were angry that my spouse and I showed up at the laser tag place. The only reason they invited my kids is that we are generous in our gift giving.

Another fun anecdote about them, they would bankrupt themselves to buy stupid things for their kids. They were not financially secure and are the only adults I've known who have had their phones or electricity cut off. Despite this they spent over $350 on one little plush animal that was in at the time. They would pay a fortune for a McDonald's kid's happy meal toy that was "rare". They were certain these pieces of trash were going to be worth millions.

One school night when our youngest kids were in preschool, mom called because they wanted me to buy girl scout cookies so daughter could win a prize. It was after 10pm on a weeknight and our youngest were in preschool. I said I'd buy them the next day but mom explained daughter wanted to win a prize and the deadline was that day. She insisted upon coming over. My husband and kids were already asleep and I had fallen asleep on the couch watching tv. I didn't agree but they showed up at my door. I kept them on the porch and signed up for a few boxes but the daughter said she needed to use the bathroom. I let them in and the daughter sat her butt on my stairs in the foyer and lectured me because, this is the f'ing truth, she need me to buy at least 50 boxes. They would not leave after 10pm at night and kept trying to push me to buy a ridiculous amount of boxes so the daughter could get some crap plastic prize. No I didn't and we avoided them after that until the party fiasco.


No, your post just makes it even more clear that it's fake - of course the parents were going to find out about it when the kids told the parents they didn't go to laser tags. Nobody is tearing the phone out of your children's hands. Happy meals cost the same regardless of the toy inside. No little girl is going to lecture you to buy 50 boxes of cookies. Just stop, PP, your lies are ridiculous.
Anonymous
Post 07/17/2025 18:48     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
This isn't as bad as some of the answers here, but there was a girl in DD's class who would pass out invitations 1-2 days before the party.

These parties would go on for 5-6 hours. They wouldn't do the fun stuff (cake, piñata, opening presents) until the very end so we were stuck the entire time because DD didn't want to miss the best parts.

Why didn't I just drop off? This family would literally let 6-7 year old guests ride around on ATVs. Alone. And while their daughter may have been experienced driving them, mine certainly wasn't and I wasn't going to leave her unattended.

The cherry on top is because the invitations were such short notice, I didn't have time to get a present. Didn't even have time to swing by Target for a gift card (I'm a working mom and I had to clear things just to be able to attend). To this day, the family complains I didn't bring a gift.

Luckily they're now in different social groups so we aren't invited anymore. Her daughter has also developed into quite the mean girl so we're happy to avoid.
Anonymous
Post 07/17/2025 17:32     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A family my kids and I had known since preschool invited my two kids to a laser tag birthday party when they were in elementary. I don't trust their judgement so I usually would go and hang at their kids birthday party and help. They insisted I drop my kids at their house. They planned to ferry all the kids to the laser tag place themselves but they only had one small sedan. I offered to help drive and they refused.

It was all a ruse to allow them to only take some of the kids to laser tag. 2 hours after dropping them off, my kids call for me to come pick them up at the host's home. The parents took most of the kids to the laser place but left some of the kids behind saying they'd be back to get them. The birthday kid's big sister stayed at the house with our kids and the other one or two unlucky ones. My kids had started to call me at the one hour mark but the big sister stopped them several times. I headed to their house but big sister heard my kids call me and called her parents. Dad hightailed it to get my kids - the other kids parents had already picked them up. I got to the laser tag place before the dad showed up with my kids. The party was over and I had to wait for my kids to be ferried there for no reason. The galling thing is that the mom was furious with me because she got caught. They never apologized and were angry at me for discovering their dishonesty. They knew they couldn't get all the kids there and didn't want to pay for laser tag for all of them so they just left some of the kids.

I'm so glad they moved so I never have to see them again.




This one is fake.


I think so too for no other reason than the kids were old enough to have their own phone/watch whatever so even if the mom wasn’t called-clearly the kids are old enough to tell the parents what happened regardless if the host parents tried to hide it. Like rushing to take the kids to a laser tag place when the party is over makes no difference-they are going to tell their parents they weren’t actually at the party and didn’t play laser tag. Makes no sense whatsoever. Made up.


Again not made up. My kids had phones. The parents didn't give a flip. Our kids were no longer in school together and they thought I was a push over. They didn't expect to have to face me and my spouse.
Anonymous
Post 07/17/2025 17:27     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A family my kids and I had known since preschool invited my two kids to a laser tag birthday party when they were in elementary. I don't trust their judgement so I usually would go and hang at their kids birthday party and help. They insisted I drop my kids at their house. They planned to ferry all the kids to the laser tag place themselves but they only had one small sedan. I offered to help drive and they refused.

It was all a ruse to allow them to only take some of the kids to laser tag. 2 hours after dropping them off, my kids call for me to come pick them up at the host's home. The parents took most of the kids to the laser place but left some of the kids behind saying they'd be back to get them. The birthday kid's big sister stayed at the house with our kids and the other one or two unlucky ones. My kids had started to call me at the one hour mark but the big sister stopped them several times. I headed to their house but big sister heard my kids call me and called her parents. Dad hightailed it to get my kids - the other kids parents had already picked them up. I got to the laser tag place before the dad showed up with my kids. The party was over and I had to wait for my kids to be ferried there for no reason. The galling thing is that the mom was furious with me because she got caught. They never apologized and were angry at me for discovering their dishonesty. They knew they couldn't get all the kids there and didn't want to pay for laser tag for all of them so they just left some of the kids.

I'm so glad they moved so I never have to see them again.





That is one of the most mind boggling insane things I have ever read on this site! Why bother inviting your kids?


To get the presents, I’m guessing.


This. We all exchanged gift cards to Target and since I had two invited I always gave a lot more. I was also stupidly generous with their kid because they were such train wrecks financially.
Anonymous
Post 07/17/2025 17:25     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A family my kids and I had known since preschool invited my two kids to a laser tag birthday party when they were in elementary. I don't trust their judgement so I usually would go and hang at their kids birthday party and help. They insisted I drop my kids at their house. They planned to ferry all the kids to the laser tag place themselves but they only had one small sedan. I offered to help drive and they refused.

It was all a ruse to allow them to only take some of the kids to laser tag. 2 hours after dropping them off, my kids call for me to come pick them up at the host's home. The parents took most of the kids to the laser place but left some of the kids behind saying they'd be back to get them. The birthday kid's big sister stayed at the house with our kids and the other one or two unlucky ones. My kids had started to call me at the one hour mark but the big sister stopped them several times. I headed to their house but big sister heard my kids call me and called her parents. Dad hightailed it to get my kids - the other kids parents had already picked them up. I got to the laser tag place before the dad showed up with my kids. The party was over and I had to wait for my kids to be ferried there for no reason. The galling thing is that the mom was furious with me because she got caught. They never apologized and were angry at me for discovering their dishonesty. They knew they couldn't get all the kids there and didn't want to pay for laser tag for all of them so they just left some of the kids.

I'm so glad they moved so I never have to see them again.




This one is fake.


No, it's very real and the a@@holes were angry that my spouse and I showed up at the laser tag place. The only reason they invited my kids is that we are generous in our gift giving.

Another fun anecdote about them, they would bankrupt themselves to buy stupid things for their kids. They were not financially secure and are the only adults I've known who have had their phones or electricity cut off. Despite this they spent over $350 on one little plush animal that was in at the time. They would pay a fortune for a McDonald's kid's happy meal toy that was "rare". They were certain these pieces of trash were going to be worth millions.

One school night when our youngest kids were in preschool, mom called because they wanted me to buy girl scout cookies so daughter could win a prize. It was after 10pm on a weeknight and our youngest were in preschool. I said I'd buy them the next day but mom explained daughter wanted to win a prize and the deadline was that day. She insisted upon coming over. My husband and kids were already asleep and I had fallen asleep on the couch watching tv. I didn't agree but they showed up at my door. I kept them on the porch and signed up for a few boxes but the daughter said she needed to use the bathroom. I let them in and the daughter sat her butt on my stairs in the foyer and lectured me because, this is the f'ing truth, she need me to buy at least 50 boxes. They would not leave after 10pm at night and kept trying to push me to buy a ridiculous amount of boxes so the daughter could get some crap plastic prize. No I didn't and we avoided them after that until the party fiasco.
Anonymous
Post 07/17/2025 11:25     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A family my kids and I had known since preschool invited my two kids to a laser tag birthday party when they were in elementary. I don't trust their judgement so I usually would go and hang at their kids birthday party and help. They insisted I drop my kids at their house. They planned to ferry all the kids to the laser tag place themselves but they only had one small sedan. I offered to help drive and they refused.

It was all a ruse to allow them to only take some of the kids to laser tag. 2 hours after dropping them off, my kids call for me to come pick them up at the host's home. The parents took most of the kids to the laser place but left some of the kids behind saying they'd be back to get them. The birthday kid's big sister stayed at the house with our kids and the other one or two unlucky ones. My kids had started to call me at the one hour mark but the big sister stopped them several times. I headed to their house but big sister heard my kids call me and called her parents. Dad hightailed it to get my kids - the other kids parents had already picked them up. I got to the laser tag place before the dad showed up with my kids. The party was over and I had to wait for my kids to be ferried there for no reason. The galling thing is that the mom was furious with me because she got caught. They never apologized and were angry at me for discovering their dishonesty. They knew they couldn't get all the kids there and didn't want to pay for laser tag for all of them so they just left some of the kids.

I'm so glad they moved so I never have to see them again.




This one is fake.


I think so too for no other reason than the kids were old enough to have their own phone/watch whatever so even if the mom wasn’t called-clearly the kids are old enough to tell the parents what happened regardless if the host parents tried to hide it. Like rushing to take the kids to a laser tag place when the party is over makes no difference-they are going to tell their parents they weren’t actually at the party and didn’t play laser tag. Makes no sense whatsoever. Made up.
Anonymous
Post 07/17/2025 09:36     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
PP I found a pic of Dora the Predatora. I've never posted a pic so hopefully this works.
https://imgur.com/a/MKiXVh4
Anonymous
Post 07/17/2025 09:29     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A very unstable, angry magician, who scared an entire party of preschoolers (and parents). I’m still shocked this guy is in business 5 yrs later. Maybe it was just a very bad day.


Oh no! We were at a party where a person in a Dora the Explorer costume "surprised" a crew of toddlers and preschoolers who mostly reacted by screaming and crying in utter terror.



This made me laugh out loud. Years ago I attended a party where a creepy old man dressed up as Dora. How did I know it was a creepy old man, you ask? Because he took off the head in front of all the kids to complain how hot it was. The costume itself was creepy, but headless Dora costume with an old man head was worse. To this day my friends and I joke about Dora the Predatora.
Anonymous
Post 07/17/2025 09:16     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Had a small bday party for my son, invited about 5 boys. One boy rsvp'd no, the other 4 yes. Then the mom called and said her son could make it after all. When party was over she picked up her son and the other 4 boys. Turned out her son was having a party that night immediately after and the other boys were invited but not my son. It kind of sucked.


That is awful. And while this has never happened to us, I know people who were invited to a birthday party and then half the kids are invited to sleep over - not cool! All or nothing for these parties IMHO.


Yes! Why do people do this? My DD was recently invited to a party where around 1/4 of the girls were invited to spend the night after the party. She was sad to not be invited to the sleepover.
Anonymous
Post 07/17/2025 09:03     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Had a small bday party for my son, invited about 5 boys. One boy rsvp'd no, the other 4 yes. Then the mom called and said her son could make it after all. When party was over she picked up her son and the other 4 boys. Turned out her son was having a party that night immediately after and the other boys were invited but not my son. It kind of sucked.


That is so rude


I've had this happen as well and these ladies will swear up and down that they aren't being rude.
"Larlo is allowed to choose his own friends"
"The athletic boys just naturally gravitate to each other"
"If your son is feeling left out maybe you should get a private trainer to help him out with his sports skills. It's all about sports for boys."
"I would never let my son be left out. I've always made sure we had tons of friends in our neighborhood and made sure he was on the good sports teams."
Basically flip flop so I'm the one who's in the wrong!
Anonymous
Post 07/17/2025 08:58     Subject: What’s the WORST birthday party experience you ever had?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A family my kids and I had known since preschool invited my two kids to a laser tag birthday party when they were in elementary. I don't trust their judgement so I usually would go and hang at their kids birthday party and help. They insisted I drop my kids at their house. They planned to ferry all the kids to the laser tag place themselves but they only had one small sedan. I offered to help drive and they refused.

It was all a ruse to allow them to only take some of the kids to laser tag. 2 hours after dropping them off, my kids call for me to come pick them up at the host's home. The parents took most of the kids to the laser place but left some of the kids behind saying they'd be back to get them. The birthday kid's big sister stayed at the house with our kids and the other one or two unlucky ones. My kids had started to call me at the one hour mark but the big sister stopped them several times. I headed to their house but big sister heard my kids call me and called her parents. Dad hightailed it to get my kids - the other kids parents had already picked them up. I got to the laser tag place before the dad showed up with my kids. The party was over and I had to wait for my kids to be ferried there for no reason. The galling thing is that the mom was furious with me because she got caught. They never apologized and were angry at me for discovering their dishonesty. They knew they couldn't get all the kids there and didn't want to pay for laser tag for all of them so they just left some of the kids.

I'm so glad they moved so I never have to see them again.





That is one of the most mind boggling insane things I have ever read on this site! Why bother inviting your kids?


To get the presents, I’m guessing.