End of a 6yr olds party- no party bag

[Just4this1]

NC! Quick one- end of a party, nothing handed out to the children- (money not an issue)- would you think rude or perfectly fine?

One of my sons friends didn't so party bags or cake to go home. They're Italian so I just presumed it wasn't common in their culture.

I hope they are not plastic flower pots 🤯

Real cake! Now I think about it I had a chat at another party with party mum, she was chatting to me and another mum and said "what do you do with the cake out the party bag?" Me and another mum both replied "the kids eat it, 9/10 in the car on the drive home". She replied "don't you bin it?" We said "erm no?" And then she went on about not knowing where it'd been made or who cut it etc, I just said "how do you eat anything you haven't made in your house from raw ingredients?". Funny thing is she loves to eat out 🤣. So she must have thought we all bin the cake like weirdos so just doesn't hand it out. People are weird.

I wish no bags was a customary option rather than a surprise. Half the time its plastic junk or cake that eventually goes stale. In my books its certainly not an issue so big that in warrants a Mumsnet post

Cake doesn't get a chance to go stale in my house.

I'd say perfectly fine, would actually prefer it as I don't like the house being full of clutter! It's definitely unusual though so I imagine the guests might be a bit disappointed.

Was it a craft type party where they made and took something home ? Was that it ana maybe that was seen as the party bag ?

Where has anyone said it's new or innovative? It was an example of something that wasn't plastic tat (which is also not new or innovative), which kids love to do and is more environmentally friendly. It's a wonder there are adult gardeners when they've already grown cress on their window sill as children.

Jeez, OP only asked for opinions and people have given theirs while you're definitely giving off a strong reaction to children's party favours.

Parties do tend to follow a formula, but there are no rules and it's completely inappropriate to declare something rude because it didn't follow a formula. Your child is a guest, not a client. I like it when parents do things a bit differently, otherwise they all blend into one. I did do them for my DS's 6th but I got him to help choose and fill them.

What’s environmentally friendly about flower pots? I’m assuming they’re plastic if they’re so cheap 🤦‍♀️
So quick to virtue signal, so slow to think it through…

I am not from the UK… could you please enlighten me about the cake? Why do you hand out the birthday-cake to eat at home? Why can’t the kids just eat the cake together at the party?

In my country party bags are also the norm for parties from 5-8 years old, or books or colouring books …but we never took any cake home! Most parties end at 5 pm and then you go home for dinner… so not a great time for cake.

I think it's a good way to signal the end of the party, but no need to have plastic tat. You could just do a piece of cake wrapped in a serviette, like we had in the old days, or nice paper bags with cake, balloon, bag of sweets.

Exactly this!

No, I shudder at the thought!

Jokes aside, the paint for the (ahem, ceramic pots) comes in little plastic tubs but I'm trying 😂

Why do posters on MN always think party bags are synonym of "plastic tat" exactly?

Experience?

I think “plastic tat” is shorthand for “little tiny things that aren’t really good toys and clutter up the house”, not necessarily plastic. Erasers, little notepads, hairbands, seeds (I worked hard on my garden, I don’t want the 8,000 seeds we’ve been given – every party!), wooden yo-yos, stickers, tiny crappy cardboard jigsaws, etc. The detritus that fills the bottom of the toy box/gets ground into the playroom carpet/rolls under the sofa.

As for cake, my policy is to make one big enough to serve at the party AND put in the bag. Cake wrapped in a napkin is a real Proustian rush. DD will even eat the napkin, such is her lust for the jam and butter icing smeared on it.

I never did party bags. Plastic tat that no one wants. If any of the kids ever asked, I just said ‘We don’t do party bags here’. Never had a complaint, never had guests refuse to come. We did do amazing parties though.

Let’s start a ‘no party bag movement’ right here, right now!

Rude? Give over 🙄

I hope I’m brave enough to skip the party bags, but I will probably go down the “cake and book” route….!

👏

Never done party bags and they are just filled with plastic shit. Always gave kids a slice of cake and a balloon which doubled up as nice decorations during the party. Personally I hate it when kids come home with party bags.

You know the old saying about making assumptions...

No idea what your problem is but I think you should take a deep breath and let it go.

I'll send you some seeds on your birthday to cheer you up.

In my (limited) experience, the cake is a 50/50 thing.

Half the host parents give the cake to eat at the end of the party "tea", sometimes produce a cupcake to take home as a "party bag",
the other half cut the cake and give the slices to the children on the way out.

When a party finishes at 5 here, I consider the kids to have had an early tea at 4, so they only get a snack instead of diner at their usual diner time, we can always slot a bit of cake somewhere!

I prefer not to have to carry a slice of cake home, but I have not the strong reaction of other posters about these things 😂

You might find that a balloon actually qualifies as "plastic shit"

What’s shit about a balloon?