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.

You win. 100%

My kid has a late spring birthday and it took us a couple of years of cold/rainy outdoor parties to figure out that the weather is reliably unreliable that time of year and that we should always have an indoor option.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think I’ve ever attended a bad birthday party, as a kid or as an adult. There’s always something to be happy about, something to enjoy. And I don’t come from a rich family, nor have we been to lavish parties now as a parent.

All this to say—op, try not to worry about what could go wrong. Imperfect can be perfect—it’s how people feel.

Same.

The worst party my kids attended was the backyard birthday party of a preschool classmate in July. Mom stayed in her house for the first 40 minutes or so "organizing" games. No one was allowed to go in to the house even to use the bathroom. Think about that given the age of the kids.

Many of the kids and parents didn't know anyone there. We all stood around awkwardly outside while her kid ignored everyone but one other kid. Most of the other kids all attended the same church. None of the parents were friendly.

She provided no beverages. It was hot as hades and the party started at 2. The kids were all complaining about the heat and she finally found a few water bottles inside and only a few kids got a drink.

When she came out and started with games, they were too complicated for the kids to understand and most kids weren't interested. In every case, her son had to win whatever game the kids played.

It was a small party with maybe 6 kids. She never acknowledged me although she had been to my house numerous times for playdates. She always stayed and she and I would chat and have a nice time, but she would never leave. Our kids were preschool aged and she would stay in to dinner time and ignore every polite push I gave to get her to leave.

We saw a year later when our kids started soccer. Our teams played one another and dad was the coach of the other team. Their son threw fits the entire game on field and dad had to drag him off the field, kicking and screaming.

Both he and his wife were such clueless, self centered jerks that he blocked traffic and no one could get to their fields before the matches started as he stopped to get coffee at the concession stand at the complex. He stopped his car in the middle of the road leaving his door open and stood in line for 10 minutes waiting to get coffee. He blocked all traffic at a very busy soccer complex. People who were stuck were honking and trying to drive over a curb to get to the fields for the games that all started at the same time. His wife sat in the passenger seat and did nothing.

I don’t have any bad party stories to share but we regularly host and one thing that helped us was renting a large fan (a 36 inch wide cattle fan as DH put it) for the backyard and a tent (plus backyard is shaded). No bug issue here (we’re not in dc anymore) but would have some bug spray available

Preschool bday party my DS went to at a county park. Very hot, 3 hrs, barely any food and most importantly NO games or anything planned. Entire plan was let the 4 year olds run around for 3 hours. Fine if it was 1.5 hours - not 3. Terrible. Terrible.

I once went to a preschool party at cox farms that was booked early afternoon when most of our kids would be napping. The birthday child was miserable and I really felt sorry for the parents. Dad was clearly very upset and angry. Both their kids were crying and had a terrible time, didn’t even get on their private hay ride. For me personally, it wasn’t that bad because my kid fell asleep on the way and i transferred to a stroller. My kid missed the entire party.

I have never seen a more miserable birthday family- mom, dad, birthday child and sibling.

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.

My 5 year old child was invited as guest to a birthday party for her classmate at an outdoor park. Not aware it was also sort of a family reunion with planned games in groups. I was then asked to lead a group. After 3.5 hours, my child and I left. Kept hearing that the games were almost over, but we couldn’t take it anymore. Had good food, though.

Kicker is - at my kid’s party, which was earlier in the year, they dropped the kid off (sick) and went out to dinner.

Anonymous wrote:Hungover Elsa from Frozen showed up 90 minutes late extending a party for preschoolers way longer than it should have. Batman had come and gone though some kid hit another kid in the stomach during the batman theme and that also lead to screaming and tears.

Parents and kids were asked to dress up for this superhero and princes party for boy-girl twins so the entire scene was surreal. The mom host always boasted how she only did home parties but on this one should have sprung for a venue.

Yikes on my typos!

For my 8th birthday, in the winter, we planned a swimming party at a nearby public indoor pool. But my parents neglected to confirm that the pool would be open. We all got there to find locked doors, so we went back to my house for improvised party games. The only one I remember was Telephone, where the whispered phrase was, "This party is terrible."

Hungover Elsa from Frozen showed up 90 minutes late extending a party for preschoolers way longer than it should have. Batman had come and gone though some kid hit another kid in the stomach during the batman theme and that also lead to screaming and tears.

Parents and kids were asked to dress up for this superhero and princes party for boy-girl twins so the entire scene was surreal. The mom host always boasted how she only did home parties but on this one should have sprung for a venue.

A playground party for 5 y/os where the hosts thought that just the fact of being at a playground would be enough to keep them all engaged and happy for the duration of the party. I'm not saying that they needed professional entertainment, but it would have been nice if they'd organized some group games or provided sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and things like that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids don't mind the heat or bugs, just parents, so do what you want and let the kids have fun. I've never hosted or attended a bad birthday. It's a celebration, and a good time has always been had by all

+1 don’t listen to dcum naysayers it’s a kids birthday party, parents don’t expect it to be crazy fun for them that’s fine

Sure but if elementary school age or less and parents are sticking around, it has to at least be tolerable for them.

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.