What was wrong with DD"s birthday food?

[TeapotsInJune]

My DD is two and I held a very small garden party/picnic. I am vegetarian and will not be buying meat for my daughter but I of course don't mind if other people eat meat! However, I personally won't buy it.

So for the food we had a couple of tables in the garden with egg and cheese sandwiches, salad, crisps, jelly, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries and apple juice and sparkling grape juice to drink, plus iced water. I also had ice cream to go with the jelly but that wasn't out!

I then had a text from one of the women who is more the friend of a friend saying "not being funny but u obviously make ur choices but u shouldn't expect em to b made by others luv kids where dead hungry when they got in."

I am pretty cheesed off actually! That was my daughters birthday - it isn't as if I marched around snatching burgers off the children! Was the food I provided okay? I thought it was ...

The woman sounds very rude. I'd have thought that plenty of toddlers would have found something they liked from that selection. But even if I was at a party and DS refused to eat a thing, I wouldn't have complained about the food on offer.

And DS (21 mths) would have been happy with most of that selection. The last party we went to, they had strawberries, and he would have eaten every last one of them if I'd let him. He kept trying to steal strawberries off other people's plates as well

(just one question - when you say egg and cheese sandwiches, you do mean separate egg sandwiches and cheese sandwiches? Not egg and cheese mixed up together in a sandwich? Because egg and cheese mixed together would be very unusual)

Hmc I have done that but still food was not eten and I had a lot of waste. So now just have a few foods out. For dd 6 party 5 Chidren, I just did hotdogs (with rolls), chicken nuggets, chips and fruit and dd had a little cake. Most of it was eaten

Shadow, yes, separate egg and cheese sandwiches! I like both but egg and cheese together - hmm! Sounds like a pregnancy sort of food!

Teapots, everyone else would have left the party having had a good time. Don't let one persons negativity spoil that.

What time was the party, OP?

And if you didn't want comments on the content of your spread, you picked the wrong title

It sounds like a party to me - eight children for a second birthday on the day itself is a party; two or three is a chance to play. I'm sure your guests thought it was a birthday party too.

Just checking

She is breathtakingly rude OP.

Ds3 is a good eater in general but super fussy about sandwiches so often only eats sausage rolls and cake at parties - I see that as his/my issue though - would never expect the host to guess that!!

Fwiw he would have eaten everything but the sandwiches and his brothers would have hoovered the lot up

I think it sounds fine..... Mine at 2 would have cleared the fruit and probably tried a sarni... ignore its your party and your choice.

That is spectacularly rude!! Sounds fine to me. A text back along the lines of "I am astonished that you could be so rude. I won't be troubling you with anymore party invites in the future" should put the bitch back in her box. I am outraged on your behalf!!

Teapotsinjune I think people are just offering up ideas, don't be offended. People love a menu thread - have you ever seen a Christmas dinner one? They're awesome {fondly remembers the Iceland Baileys pudding one where the OP had to concede it was in fact delicious }

FWIW I doubt hummus sandwiches would have impressed this lady either. Honestly there was nothing wrong with your spread.

Horry, well, if they did none of them brought cards or presents, so strange thinking there. Eight children included three sets of siblings and two guests so it was only really three of DDs friends.

I was prepared to be told my tea was awful but I am not prepared to be berated for the lack of cake when there was ice cream and jelly. The ice cream was more a nod to the weather as much as anything else.

My DCs favourite food is salad, espevially with marie roae sauce, thanks 'Ask'. And sausage rolls in case accused of boasting). Cheese sandwiches perfect, crisps, great, berries jelly and I've cream all perfect. Sounds lovely! I would have added cake (understand your reasons though) only so I could eat loads.

Party was at 2 :)

There have been a lot of well-meaning replies about what else you could have served. But, honestly, this was about you being veggie. I guarantee it. (The text is about how you shouldn't expect others to conform to your beliefs. Whatever.) You could have laid on a spread of Marmite + nutella + jam + pizzas and she would have complained because there were no sausage rolls or chicken nuggets.

Your spread was fine.

Now, not singing happy birthday...

Sorry -just read last posts. My 2yo would not be bothered about cake or not -she only really eats the icing - so had I done it it would have been for me really. I think it's fine not to.

Well, children are faddy. My dd appears to have put herself on a bannana only diet, at the moment. At your party, she may have nibbled the edge of a sarnie, she may have tried a strawberry, but no more. And I would utterly consider that my shit parenting, not yours. You offered a lovely, varied spread - the type of stuff I try and try to get dd to eat all the time. even had you offered only mashed sprouts, I'd still, as a guest, have been polite. This woman was ignorant.

I never expect a meal to be provided at a party, the good provided sounds amazing.

I just cannot believe she actually texted?!? seriously wtf.
who texts someone to comment/complain about the food at a kids party?

it would not matter if you had served tofu with mung beans she would still be a rude bitch for commenting. you have to wonder what she was hoping to achieve by it.

(food sounds fine btw but that is not the point.) you have nothing to reproach yourself for. she on the other hand wants lessons in manners, spelling and parenting. what kind of a lesson is that kind of behaviour teaching her kids?

She is rude - as are some of the posters on this thread, who seem to feel the need to explain their children's food choices to you, as if they are somehow interesting or relevant.

You won't please everyone, there was a choice, it was fairly healthy.

It was 2 year olds, for goodness sake - sandwiches, crisps, ice cream & jelly are standard party fodder. The fact you added fruit & salad makes you a domestic goddess come hostess with the mostess in my book. Really, any further effort for random littlies is pearls before swine.

Plainly, she fears your weird vegetarian ways and thinks you should be burned as a witch.

Well if the party was at 2 good chance the kids would have eaten before and would need tea anyway, so what's the biggy if they didn't fill their boots at the party.

I'd be incandescent at a text like that. My response "Ah well, they could stand to lose a couple of pounds. Now do fuck off."

Sounds yummy. At that age ds loved berries (more than biscuits), and crisps, and jelly and ice cream.
Cheese butties? Well, if a child won't eat cheese butties, they are unreasonably fussy in my opinion, and that's not your problem!
Nowt wrong with any of it.

My goidness you would have thought that the woman would have fed her children before the picnic seeing as it was after lunch affair, r was she starving them and waiting for your picnic to start so tat you would feed them. Incredibly rude, are you going to text back

mmm... I thought I was being helpful with some suggestions! Because OP obviously cares about providing food her guests will like. Or like well enough, anyway. Unlike Gohound I think the text was about lack of pure junk food. And the texter's bad manners, of course.

When I started reading your post I thought the food would have been tofu and mung beans, not normal party food!

Honestly, the food sounds fine. She was rude.

Teapots, I didn't mean in any way to suggest there was something wrong with your food by mentioning other food items. I just love party teas so started rambling about it.