to leave a birthday party half way through?

[beeslovehoney]

Dd has an array of party invites this month, most of them in soft play centres for a couple of hours minimum fuss, easy done..

But today she has an invite for one that is 3 HOURS long... In a hall.. I have no idea why anyone would have a 3 hour party, in a hall for 35 5 year olds that can barely sit still for 5 minutes let alone be occupied by a hall for 3 hours..

So wibu to leave after an hour or so? Claim some kind of international crisis that i need to tend to?

I may be able to make 1.5 hours if they provide coffee (which i doubt)

It's hard enough getting kids to leave a party at the very end, let alone half-way through.

YABU It's rude and you know it.

Do you know another Mum going and you can each do half the party?

Take a bloody flask of coffee with you if you are that desperate.
My DGC had 3 hour parties in a hall at that age and all the kids enjoyed the.
In fact they are 9 and 7 and still do.
Bouncy castle, musical chairs, sleeping lions, pass the parcel etc etc.

Are children too sophisticated for party games these days?

Well i made it back... 3 very long hours indeed.

Music was so loud the whole time, a bouncy castle was in the hall and nothing else. It got a bit mental with the boys clothes lining each other towards the end.

Think we will definitely have to start declining some invites soon as they are so many of them this time of year..

Now i need wine

Or start fostering independence in your dc so that they don't miss out and you can drop and run.

I took my DS to one of these on Saturday. 40 5 year olds and a really loud, booming entertainer for 3 hours. It really was too long. They had put on an amazing spread for the parents though.
Still had to have a lie down afterwards

What's clothes lining?

Clothes lining is wrestling.. Hold arm out as someone runs towards you and take them down by the throat basically

You don't mention if your DD enjoyed herself?!

I wouldn't have been able to leave my dc at 5yo. Not because they weren't independent enough but because the b'day child parents were all expecting you to stay ....
You see much easier for said parents. If something goes wrong (which it will do with 30 5yo), you don't have to deal with it. Mum (usually) is on hand.

pixie not really she hates rough and tumble so spent the majority of the time sat on the edge of the bouncy castle

Children taking each other out by the throat sounds awful. I'm not sure either of my DDs would have wanted to be there with that happening so we probably would have made our excuses and left early.