presents for DC when visiting - what's the etiquette?

[ISaidDontLickTheBin]

Recently some friends came to visit us at our house. They bought gifts for our DC (age 2 and 4). Not their birthdays or anything. I didn't have anything for their DC (age 10 and 11). Should I have done?

No I would say they were thanking you for your hospitality.
When you visit them do the same

No, I don’t think you needed to. There was no need for them to bring your children anything but maybe they just saw something they thought they would like? I’ve done that before when visiting friends with young children.

I often brought a little something when we vistied friends with children, especially if we didn't see them often or it was a one-off when we would normally see just the parents.

I would see it as a hosting gift. DD once got a bar of chocolate when leaving as she managed to entertain our friend's toddler for quite a while.

@Hyacinth88

No I would say they were thanking you for your hospitality. When you visit them do the same

That's pretty much how I thought it worked but DH said he felt awkward that we didn't have anything for them (my friends not his so not a 'wife work' issue). It made me doubt myself.

Interested to hear others' thoughts!