Planning a birthday party can be equally exciting and nerve-racking. You get to pick out your favorite birthday cake, invite all of your friends and enjoy being the star of the show for one day. But there’s always a risk that guests will cancel at the last minute, the activities won’t be as entertaining as you had hoped and you’ll spend the evening sobbing into a pint of ice cream.
One parent recently reached out to Reddit detailing how their son’s birthday party was a huge disappointment due to the behavior of the kids and parents who attended. Below, you’ll find the full story, as well as some of the replies invested readers shared.
Despite how stressful party planning can be, parents want to do everything they can to make their child’s birthday special
Image credits: Dimaberlin/Envato (not the actual photo)
Unfortunately for this parent, it wasn’t worth the hassle after guests ruined their son’s celebration by behaving badly
Image credits: seventyfourimages/Envato (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Stockphoty/Envato (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Resident-Sympathy-82
The average children’s birthday party costs over $300 nowadays
Image credits: Lan Gao/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Birthday parties are the highlight of the year for many kids. Growing up, I loved being the center of attention, and I was thrilled to be able to call the shots for one day. If I wanted to go bowling, that’s what the whole family would do! And if I wanted to eat quesadillas for dinner, I didn’t have to engage in a debate with my brothers about why they’re superior to spaghetti.
What I didn’t realize as a child, however, was just how much time and money my parents were putting into my birthday parties. According to What to Expect, children’s parties cost $314 on average nowadays. But one in five parents will shell out over $500 to celebrate their little one’s big day.
Usually, the child’s entire class isn’t included, as the average party has about 9 kids attending. And parents report that the most stressful part of the entire experience is cleaning up after. However, 22% of moms and dads say that getting guests to RSVP is a huge pain as well.
Now, birthday parties are a great way to make our children feel special, celebrate milestones, boost their self-confidence, create family traditions and allow our kids to strengthen their social bonds.
But as we’ve seen in this story, they can sadly do a lot of damage when they get derailed. In fact, this isn’t the first time a parent has reached out on social media for support after their child’s party was ruined by those in attendance.
It’s important for guests to understand birthday party etiquette before attending
Image credits: Adam Kring/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
If you’re planning on taking your child to a birthday party any time soon or throwing your own, it’s important that you’re familiar with what is appropriate birthday party etiquette. WRAL News recommends that those planning the party keep it simple. Choose a theme and an activity or a fun location, but don’t feel the need to make it too over the top. Kids just want to have fun.
The hosts should also be expected to serve a meal. Guests will assume that there’s going to be food, so don’t leave them hungry. Or they might end up cranky or decide to leave early. Guests aren’t required to bring presents, especially if the parents specified on the invitation that they are not necessary. But it’s nice to bring something, such as a gift card to the movie theatre or a membership to a museum.
WRAL News also notes that guests shouldn’t assume that siblings can automatically tag along. They should ask the parents hosting first if they will be welcome while they’re RSVPing, as it can be awkward if there’s not enough food or goodie bags or the siblings don’t know the birthday boy/girl at all.
And when it comes to parents sticking around or dropping off their kids, it’s usually a good idea for them to stay just in case. If their child is injured or ends up behaving poorly, it’s important for mom or dad to be close by. The hosts shouldn’t have to deal with any issues that may arise alone.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation below, pandas. Have you ever thrown or attended a birthday party where guests behaved like this? Feel free to weigh in, and then, you can check out another Bored Panda article discussing birthday party drama right here.
Readers agreed that the guests displayed terrible behavior, and the parent joined in on the conversation to share more details
Some even shared similar stories of their own and advice for the parent’s next party
The post Parent Gets No RSVPs For Son’s Party, Then Guests Show Up With Siblings And No Presents first appeared on Bored Panda.
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