Morning. May out myself here. :o
Had an amazing opportunity, DS, his friend and his DM and I all spent the night in a museum. A huge sleepover with activities and free food and drinks, £3 per child, adults go free. Amazing, sign me up and can I please come to the next one? This is part of a trial scheme across the UK and the evening started with us being referred to as honored guests, the first people ever to do this in our local museum. Felt very lucky.
It was awful, glowsticks were given out by the staff. When the staff left them unattended on a high shelf parents helped their children help themselves to more. Some parents had up to five for themselves. This result in staff panic about running out as not every child had been offered one at this point. I was embarrassed for my city, this set the tone for the evening.
Children were climbing on displays, hiding the parts of the treasure hunt, the staff were volunteers and couldn't be everywhere at once. The parents really let the side down.
Bed time was 12 midnight with total silence expected by 12:30. Age group was 7 - 9 year olds. Now children are not going to settle straight away, they're going to giggle and shout when lights are turned off and flash torches. Great, they're having fun, fair enough. What I wasn't prepared for was the parents, loud and shouting, swearing at kids, laughing on with mates when their children asked them to shush.
(There were always staff available at front desk but no one dared complain, no one was going to be asked to leave at 2am and you do feel very vulnerable sleeping in a huge room with the people you've just complained about.)
We're going to be asked to give feedback of the night.
Would it be wrong to say the whole thing was amazing with no issue (not the staff's fault about the parents) in case they then decide it's not worth doing in my area and no one else gets a chance?
Or do I raise the issue of better supervision required for parents so they have a chance to put it right? Which would result in more enjoyment for everyone.