No party food or drink provided

[ImaMumtoaboy]

So my ds(11) went to a football party yesterday. The minute we got in the car he asked to go the shop for a drink as he was so thirsty.
Party was at the local astro pitch, party room included that has 2 ovens, hob, 2 toasters, 2 microwaves and 2 fridges. Most parents bring in frozen pizzas and chips and cook them or order in pizzas.
Kids were running around for 2 hours in hot weather they were not offered any drinks during that time.
He said in the "party room" they got 1 small bottle of water (250ml) and a small slice of birthday cake. They only went into the room 10 minutes before I arrived to collect him.
When I went in the mother was packing up the cake which looked like there was about 3/4's left. I thought the kids must have had enough food that they didnt want cake. And parents cleaned up very quickly. Kids were all quiet(14 11/12 yr old boys) who are normally very loud at parties. Kids were just sitting waiting to be collected.Turns out they got a very very skinny slice, described by ds as thinner then a slice of bread.
Ended up bringing him to Mcdonalds as a treat and we seen 2 other parents of kids that were at the same party getting their kids food.

I'd be so embarrassed. I couldn't bear to treat guests in that way. Of course you expect to feed and water children at a birthday party! Of course it's strange not to do it! It's not always easy to afford to throw a proper party - I save in advance and make sure we can feed all children before asking any.

I've never heard of a birthday party not providing food and drinks for kids, I'm in Ireland so maybe it's different in England.

No it isn't. It is normal to provide food and drink at a children's party. The hosts in this case were tightwads.

This will get talked about at school.

Dbil and sil invited dd to dn’s swimming party.
The dc, all about 8 years old turned up with beautifully wrapped gifts.
After swimming dsil gave each dc a drink and a packet of crisps.
I was so embarrassed.
Then after the parents collected the dc we went to dsil’s house and had a full lunch and birthday cake.
God knows what they were thinking, the dc we’re obviously really hungry.

I would class 12-2 as over a mealtime though so would have expected food and not fed my child beforehand.

Yes, very weird especially as trolls have voracious appetites for cake.

Awful. Even the skinniest budget should run to a few crisps, cupcakes and a couple of jugs of squash & water at a sports themed activity party ☹️🤷🏼‍♀️

Only on mn would you find people calling over each other to suggest this is normal, reasonable and anything other than the utter height of grabby bad manners from the parents. Or a narrative that it would take an hour to eat - have you ever seen a boy (or girl) whose just been running around for two hours eat????

That does sound poor. More water and sandwiches and crisps Could've been supplied cheaply.

I hope there were no party bags either. On mumsnet a party is not meant to be any fun at all - zero party food or fun for anyone. They are meant to just play musical chairs for 2 hours and lump it.

If I was hosting an active party on a very hot day, not only would there be cold drinks but I'd be making sure the kids were actually drinking.

That sounds rubbish. Even a tight budget should be able to stretch to some squash, basic pizzas and crisps. What were they saving the cake for, I wonder?!

Sports parties

All my 4 DC would have hated that.

And?

Well I’d hope not. It’s not the child’s fault. I imagine the children would take their cue from their parents who hopefully wouldn’t make a song and dance about it and encourage the dc to focus on the positives- presumably they enjoyed the football.

I agree it is somewhat odd but not worth making a child feel like crap over.

if the parents are freaking out over it then the child will too. If the parents are just like “ oh well, you can have a sandwich when we get home” the kids will be too.

That is disgusting - why have a party if you cannot supply the basics

Aside from anything else I can’t understand why someone hosting would want to be responsible for a load of tired, hungry, miserable kids, moaning and headachey and grumpy. The point of supplying food and drink isn’t a fun party bonus like balloons, it’s so no one is hangry and annoying.

Oh come on it's not disgusting. Disgusting would be if they fed them eyeballs full of maggots.

That has to be the most disappointing party bag ever 😕

Disappointing!? With an "individual oatcake" and "lettuce seeds"?!

So a treat for NOW (scrummy oatcakes - sorry, cake) , and something to look forward to when the lettuce grows! It's is the gift that keep on giving 😂😂

This. Tight arses.

No, all the DC love it so much they ask if they can donate it for someone else to enjoy 🥰

As the parent of a girl I know that poor hosting like this will be talked about. At that age they aren't going to differentiate between the parents lack of hosting and the birthday child.

This. I don't really see the big deal tbh. Although maybe some more drinks or water would've been nice (although assuming there was a tap so why didn't the kiss just help themselves to more water). Ita slightly odd but not the end of the world, and maybe it was a good thing anyway as people go way to OTT with parties anyway, maybe this will set a trend

No party bags 😔