I am a nanny and we do have these parties from time to time with my nanny friends.
Children are used to see each other because we're a circle and are happy to have a little celebration.
Yes it's nice to sit down with your nanny friends but honestly if we want a lunch or special moment we do it when not working.
So please don't see it as a perk for the nannies, we truly do it for the children.

This is completely normal. Our nanny throws our children birthday parties with their nanny friends and the kids they take care of and it’s so warm and lovely. We also throw a separate one with our family friends.

We give books to the kid parties. It helps break their day up and we are always happy for more love for our kids. The other nannies are people they spend a lot of time with during the day!

I’m a SAHM, not a nanny, but everyone is happier and healthier when there’s interaction with other kids and caregivers. This sounds more fun than story time and just as good for the kids, if not more.

Our nanny did this with her group of nanny friends. I swear she must have taken my daughter to 10 parties a year…it was so fun for everyone. My daughter loved it and our nanny loved the social life she had when she was with us. I’d always ask my nanny to give us a heads up about the parties so I could order something small on Amazon, but I don’t think it was expected.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - sometimes I know in advance and sometimes after the fact. Honestly it seems like just an excuse to give all the nannies lunch! I suspect these are really only happening for the little kids whose parents might not otherwise have a party for friends cause they are 2 and 3 years old (we only did family parties at that age). But yeah, I’ll just buy some inexpensive toys or books to have on hand that the nanny can take as a gift when they come up.

Sounds like a fun time for all. You are kind of bad mouthing the whole idea. Why?

+1. Heck, several times a year I ask our nanny to invite her nanny friends over and get lunch for everyone.

I agree that 10 in the AM IS much too early to have a birthday party but considering the child likely takes an afternoon nap at that age - it logically makes complete sense.

And yes, I always send a birthday present 🎁!

Anonymous wrote:This just seems like the nanny version of sending treats to school or daycare for your kid’s birthday. It’s sweet and fun for the kids, and gifts are probably unnecessary.

This. When we knew about it, my kids were excited to give the birthday kid some bubbles or sidewalk chalk. Not a big deal, just a fun thing for kids who often spent time together anyway.

I suspect these are really only happening for the little kids whose parents might not otherwise have a party for friends cause they are 2 and 3 years old (we only did family parties at that age).

That wasn't the case back in the Dark Ages when my kids were young. It was also in part because often the kids your child saw and played with during the week had parents who weren't friends with you. So this gave the child a chance to celebrate with those friends. They were sometimes useful if a 3 year old started talking about
"my birthday party" because uninvited kids just thought the child was talking about the birthday party they did attend. Very useful for avoiding hurt feelings!

You’re being ridiculous.

When I was a SAHM this happened with our weekly playgroup. Every Wednesday at 10am me and other neighborhood moms got together with our kids. Sometimes when we didn’t have the bandwidth to plan a big party we would celebrate at playgroup. The birthday kid’s mom would bring cupcakes and snacks and we would all sing happy birthday and the little kids would be all excited about the “party.” Sometimes people would bring presents but it wasn’t as big as the weekend birthday parties.

Anonymous wrote:A small stuffed animal.

I used to keep around those squishmallow blind bags for little things like this. Elementary schoolers still love them in fact.

Yes, my baby attended a few of these parties. If I knew in advance, we would gift a few books. We often had duplicates of the same books gifted to us, so it was easy to send them along as a gift or order books on Amazon. Cute parties!

Anonymous wrote:My kids attended a ton of these when they had a nanny. They were super informal and we often didn’t even find out until after the fact. We never sent a gift.

Same. It was really more for the nannys to get together, fine by me.