Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much the kids really appreciate it. It seems like the room mom is appreciating it the most.

That's crap. In my kid's school, lots of parents volunteer for parties (not just the room mom), and while I enjoy watching the kids, it takes time to buy snacks, come up with an idea for a craft/game, and decorate. It's definitely work, and in my kid's school, the kids seem to love the chance to celebrate Halloween, Valentine's day or the end of the year.

In my kids' school, the kids love the parties. I don't think the presence or absence of pizza matters one bit or changes their enjoyment one bit. Pizza just isn't that special for most kids. As far as quantity goes, even 5th and 6th graders don't need to be eating 2000 calories for lunch. Two slices should be sufficient.

This. Kids love parties and they really do not care what they are being fed. They care more about the games and fun things to do.

You spent $135 for pizza for 20 kids? Seriously? Have you never heard of googling to find a pizza code and ordering online and picking it up? I ordered 10 large pizzas with 5 toppings for a kids party (20 kids) and the adults ate too and there was a whole pizza left for me to take home (after we gave the workers at the venue one box).

Double cut the pizzas (you get 12 slices. Even if 20 kids eat 2 slices each you only need 4 pizzas - even if you paid full price that is only $80).

Our room asked for $20 beginning of the year and no other requests so far. I guess she stayed on budget (no pizzas for the kids, only snacks).

And like previous posters have mentioned - go to the dollar store for your supplies or even the Target dollar spot. If you are spending more than a dollar on table cloths and doing some fancy stuff, then spend your own money, not the pooled money..

And kids do NOT need a gazillion things on their plates. They are excited about a party and the fewer things the better. I hate seeing so much food going to waste. Does a kid need cupcakes, cookies, yogurt, fruit slices, cheese, crackers, pizza, juice, chips all at one time? Limit the number of items - pizza, fruit, cookie or cupcake and a juice - limit to 4 items. They don't need more than that.

To the moms who want your child to be fed a full meal at these parties, I don't know what to say. I am just shocked at your expectations.

If my kid was in your child's class OP, you can bet that after the first $20 for class parties, I am giving nothing regardless of how you word your emails. I am not paying for your lack of budgeting skills.

We give our teachers a separate gift for holiday and end of the year gift and this $20 is just for class parties. It shouldn't cost more than $5-$7 per child per party. If it does, you need to rethink the way you are handling this or quit being a room mom.

And for those who like being room moms and organizing all this stuff, if you have the space in your home, buy things after season (eg: Valentines themed items after Valentines day, at Target or CVS or Walmart and keep them for next year)

Anonymous wrote:^^ Yeah. I said that 2 full slices + other party food would be reasonable, but more than that isn't needed. For a class of 20, that means 5 pizzas would still provide 2 full-sized slices per child. According to dominos.com, the pizza alone would be 600 calories. With some other party food, that's more than enough for lunch.

I'm just not buying that parties need huge budgets for 5th and 6th graders, because the kids are just soooooo hungry and need sooooo much food. Since this whole thread is about being petty about food, parties, and cost, why should parents of girls, like me, who are only going to eat one slice of the pizza forced to subsidize all of your gluttonous boys who need to eat half of a damn pizza?

At our Xmas class party, the girls dug just like the boys. I think everyone had at least 2 pieces. Some had 3-4.

^^ Yeah. I said that 2 full slices + other party food would be reasonable, but more than that isn't needed. For a class of 20, that means 5 pizzas would still provide 2 full-sized slices per child. According to dominos.com, the pizza alone would be 600 calories. With some other party food, that's more than enough for lunch.

I'm just not buying that parties need huge budgets for 5th and 6th graders, because the kids are just soooooo hungry and need sooooo much food. Since this whole thread is about being petty about food, parties, and cost, why should parents of girls, like me, who are only going to eat one slice of the pizza forced to subsidize all of your gluttonous boys who need to eat half of a damn pizza?

Anonymous wrote:One slice of large Dominoes pepperoni pizza is 300 calories. Add some juice to that, fruit, cake, or whatever, and you have plenty for a meal. If you want to provide 2 slices + cake and whatever other stuff, you're going to be close to 1000 calories. That means a class of 20 should need no more than 5 pizzas, especially since I'm sure some of the girls would only eat one slice.

If your kid needs more than about 1000 calories for lunch, it's on you to provide that for your child.

Pizza, water, carrots and a cookie. Fairly balanced for a treat lunch and far from 1000 calories. We double slice the pizza so two slices are equivalent to one slice calorie-wise and it’s about 288 calories. Add 2 more slices (2 full sized pieces) is still reasonable for a treat lunch. Tons of these kids eat crap daily with school lunch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Ours are always over lunchtime.

Your administration or teacher is creating problems by doing things that way. Almost everyone else who posted seems to be at a school where people still eat lunch however they normally do, and then have the party an hour before dismissal. It's much cheaper and easier to plan and fund a snack party than a full lunch party.

Speak for yourself. I like when class parties are over lunchtime. I don’t have to make a lunch that day and my kid doesn’t get two meal times at school.

Anonymous wrote:
Ours are always over lunchtime.

Your administration or teacher is creating problems by doing things that way. Almost everyone else who posted seems to be at a school where people still eat lunch however they normally do, and then have the party an hour before dismissal. It's much cheaper and easier to plan and fund a snack party than a full lunch party.

One slice of large Dominoes pepperoni pizza is 300 calories. Add some juice to that, fruit, cake, or whatever, and you have plenty for a meal. If you want to provide 2 slices + cake and whatever other stuff, you're going to be close to 1000 calories. That means a class of 20 should need no more than 5 pizzas, especially since I'm sure some of the girls would only eat one slice.

If your kid needs more than about 1000 calories for lunch, it's on you to provide that for your child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much the kids really appreciate it. It seems like the room mom is appreciating it the most.

That's crap. In my kid's school, lots of parents volunteer for parties (not just the room mom), and while I enjoy watching the kids, it takes time to buy snacks, come up with an idea for a craft/game, and decorate. It's definitely work, and in my kid's school, the kids seem to love the chance to celebrate Halloween, Valentine's day or the end of the year.

In my kids' school, the kids love the parties. I don't think the presence or absence of pizza matters one bit or changes their enjoyment one bit. Pizza just isn't that special for most kids. As far as quantity goes, even 5th and 6th graders don't need to be eating 2000 calories for lunch. Two slices should be sufficient.

2000 calories is more than 7 pieces of cheese pizza. We are saying one slice won’t cut it.

At 2 PM one slice, more if extra plus cake and other stuff is plenty. I'm happy to provide more but since I am heavily funding the parties I try to keep my costs to under $100, especially since we are far from wealthy. The kids love the parties and for some kids, they aren't invited to outside school parties so I am happy to do it but every school/parents are different. We have a few generous ones but most cannot be bothered responding to the sign up genius let alone send a pack of napkins (for the ones who can afford it). I'm happy to have an amazing party with tons of food but then I need some help paying for it. If the room parent is collecting money and a large amount, sure two is appropriate, but when you have 1-2 parents mostly funding the party, you need to be a bit more reasonable. I prefer a balance of food and not just full sweets/candy.

Ours are always over lunchtime.

You are always welcome to chip in more if you want your child to eat more. This is why I gave up being a room mom (and the other room mom was a nightmare to work with, did nothing and just hoped it all would work out).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much the kids really appreciate it. It seems like the room mom is appreciating it the most.

That's crap. In my kid's school, lots of parents volunteer for parties (not just the room mom), and while I enjoy watching the kids, it takes time to buy snacks, come up with an idea for a craft/game, and decorate. It's definitely work, and in my kid's school, the kids seem to love the chance to celebrate Halloween, Valentine's day or the end of the year.

In my kids' school, the kids love the parties. I don't think the presence or absence of pizza matters one bit or changes their enjoyment one bit. Pizza just isn't that special for most kids. As far as quantity goes, even 5th and 6th graders don't need to be eating 2000 calories for lunch. Two slices should be sufficient.

2000 calories is more than 7 pieces of cheese pizza. We are saying one slice won’t cut it.

At 2 PM one slice, more if extra plus cake and other stuff is plenty. I'm happy to provide more but since I am heavily funding the parties I try to keep my costs to under $100, especially since we are far from wealthy. The kids love the parties and for some kids, they aren't invited to outside school parties so I am happy to do it but every school/parents are different. We have a few generous ones but most cannot be bothered responding to the sign up genius let alone send a pack of napkins (for the ones who can afford it). I'm happy to have an amazing party with tons of food but then I need some help paying for it. If the room parent is collecting money and a large amount, sure two is appropriate, but when you have 1-2 parents mostly funding the party, you need to be a bit more reasonable. I prefer a balance of food and not just full sweets/candy.

Ours are always over lunchtime.

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much the kids really appreciate it. It seems like the room mom is appreciating it the most.

My first grader loves them. He was very proud of the book mark he made for Valentines day. The Room Mom has a sign up genius that asked for frosting and sprinkles to docorate cookies with. She had colored paper, glitter, and glue sticks for the kids to make the book marks. Plates, napkins and juice boxes rounded it out. The kids had the party the last hour of school and had a great time.

So the take away is different people have different ideas about what is expected from a school party. The Room Mom has a harder job then most people think. The Room Mom should work in a way that she is comfortable but accept that not every family wants to contribute or cannot contribute. If there is not the money to have the type of party the Room Mom or the teacher wants, there needs to be an adjustment.

Or the take away, it is more fun to complain about what other people think is acceptable and carry on posting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much the kids really appreciate it. It seems like the room mom is appreciating it the most.

That's crap. In my kid's school, lots of parents volunteer for parties (not just the room mom), and while I enjoy watching the kids, it takes time to buy snacks, come up with an idea for a craft/game, and decorate. It's definitely work, and in my kid's school, the kids seem to love the chance to celebrate Halloween, Valentine's day or the end of the year.

Kids very much appreciate and enjoy it and for some kids its the only parities they attend. I have no issue putting all the work into it and heavily funding it but for someone to then complain their child isn't getting enough slices of pizza is absurd when they will not contribute. Ours are not at lunch and the end of the day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much the kids really appreciate it. It seems like the room mom is appreciating it the most.

That's crap. In my kid's school, lots of parents volunteer for parties (not just the room mom), and while I enjoy watching the kids, it takes time to buy snacks, come up with an idea for a craft/game, and decorate. It's definitely work, and in my kid's school, the kids seem to love the chance to celebrate Halloween, Valentine's day or the end of the year.

In my kids' school, the kids love the parties. I don't think the presence or absence of pizza matters one bit or changes their enjoyment one bit. Pizza just isn't that special for most kids. As far as quantity goes, even 5th and 6th graders don't need to be eating 2000 calories for lunch. Two slices should be sufficient.

2000 calories is more than 7 pieces of cheese pizza. We are saying one slice won’t cut it.

At 2 PM one slice, more if extra plus cake and other stuff is plenty. I'm happy to provide more but since I am heavily funding the parties I try to keep my costs to under $100, especially since we are far from wealthy. The kids love the parties and for some kids, they aren't invited to outside school parties so I am happy to do it but every school/parents are different. We have a few generous ones but most cannot be bothered responding to the sign up genius let alone send a pack of napkins (for the ones who can afford it). I'm happy to have an amazing party with tons of food but then I need some help paying for it. If the room parent is collecting money and a large amount, sure two is appropriate, but when you have 1-2 parents mostly funding the party, you need to be a bit more reasonable. I prefer a balance of food and not just full sweets/candy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much the kids really appreciate it. It seems like the room mom is appreciating it the most.

That's crap. In my kid's school, lots of parents volunteer for parties (not just the room mom), and while I enjoy watching the kids, it takes time to buy snacks, come up with an idea for a craft/game, and decorate. It's definitely work, and in my kid's school, the kids seem to love the chance to celebrate Halloween, Valentine's day or the end of the year.

In my kids' school, the kids love the parties. I don't think the presence or absence of pizza matters one bit or changes their enjoyment one bit. Pizza just isn't that special for most kids. As far as quantity goes, even 5th and 6th graders don't need to be eating 2000 calories for lunch. Two slices should be sufficient.

2000 calories is more than 7 pieces of cheese pizza. We are saying one slice won’t cut it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much the kids really appreciate it. It seems like the room mom is appreciating it the most.

That's crap. In my kid's school, lots of parents volunteer for parties (not just the room mom), and while I enjoy watching the kids, it takes time to buy snacks, come up with an idea for a craft/game, and decorate. It's definitely work, and in my kid's school, the kids seem to love the chance to celebrate Halloween, Valentine's day or the end of the year.

In my kids' school, the kids love the parties. I don't think the presence or absence of pizza matters one bit or changes their enjoyment one bit. Pizza just isn't that special for most kids. As far as quantity goes, even 5th and 6th graders don't need to be eating 2000 calories for lunch. Two slices should be sufficient.