Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Who has a kids party at 10:30 in the morning?

208 replies

notanotherschoolrun · 05/12/2021 09:39

Off to DD & DS friends party this morning on my only day of rest 😩 and it just made me think who in their right mind has a kids party at this time?

Their having chips & nuggets and pizza at 11:30!!

Is this the norm or am I just not a morning person?

OP posts:
GetTheFlockOutOfHere · 05/12/2021 11:14

@notanotherschoolrun Now if you had said 8.30am on A Sunday, I would have said YANBU, but to be bothered about a party starting at 10.30am is bizarre. No way is that too early. I would prefer it actually, instead of having one at 4pm, and hanging around all day waiting to go!!!

They're having chips & nuggets and pizza at 11:30am!!!

OMG, hold the front page! Shock

ImFree2doasiwant · 05/12/2021 11:15

10.30 is ideal for us. Weekends are no different to weekdays with regard to what time the DC wake up. We just have a more leisurely morning, pancakes for breakfast etc. Then plenty of time to get ready and be out by 10am

We do however have a birthday party next week, 6.30pm til 8.30pm. For a 5 yr old. This seems madness to me!

Ellieboolou33 · 05/12/2021 11:16

I'd love a 10.30am party! My 6yo has one at 4.30pm today and for the last 4 hours all I've had is "when are we going to the party"

To be fair, I am just grateful my children get invited 😆

AnotherOneWithNoGoodName · 05/12/2021 11:16

10:30 is fine- gives them the afternoon to clean up etc if at their home, and maybe just works for them or what was available if they've hired somewhere.
11:30 is just about acceptable for an early lunch and they will be hungry again by dinner, and, as a bonus, not stuffed with sweets in the afternoon.

diddl · 05/12/2021 11:17

What time would you need to get up for this & what time would you usually get up?

ImFree2doasiwant · 05/12/2021 11:17

@80sMum I did a party just like that for DS1 this year. It was great!

IcedWinterPenguin · 05/12/2021 11:18

God ideal for us too. Over and done with and half the weekend left.

My DSis had her first born's first birthday scheduled with an agenda of 6 hours. That is NOT a typo. They had pizza making, a forest walk, pass the parcel.

Thankfully she lives in New Zealand so we only had to hear about the travesty of that on facetime.

(She is no longer able to quite laugh at it 10 years later.... just starts to quiver in remembrance)

IcedWinterPenguin · 05/12/2021 11:22

*still not able to laugh that was meant to be.

TheVanguardSix · 05/12/2021 11:25

I love how this is normal and totally fine (like porn!) in MN world, but in the real one, we'd all be having a good moan about it, OP.

honeylulu · 05/12/2021 11:27

I'm definitely not a morning person but when my youngest was pre school age I did a couple of morning parties 10-12. It got it over and done with and didn't interfere with naps or mealtimes (they routinely had lunch at 11.30am at nursery). At that age the parents stayed so I offered brunch on the invitation which was easy (pastries, muffins fruit and H also made bacon rolls). It also avoided the dilemma of whether to offer wine/beer to the adults.

Parties that don't bridge a mealtime are a bit of a pain but to be honest my kids were always so excited about going I couldn't complain. I'm the complete opposite of the poster who hates weekend afternoon parties because they interfere with family time. My kids were/are always desperate for getting out of the house and seeing other kids. It was/is struggle to keep them entertained at the weekend and I bloody hate hanging out at the park. A birthday party invitation is always welcome here!

loveablequalities · 05/12/2021 11:28

I think it's perfect. I don't have to feed them lunch because they've eaten at the party and we can have a fairly chilled out afternoon. Plus I don't have to listen to them mithering on all day about "when are we going to the party"! Ideal.

Neurodiversitydoctor · 05/12/2021 11:35

I think this normal. DS 3rd,4th and 5th parties were at this sort of time, fits in with an early lunch then nap. In junior school afternoon parties became more common then at the end of primary (maybe yr 5 up) it turn into a sleepover, follow in the teenage years by evening parties.

ChuckMater · 05/12/2021 11:38

I'd rather early than a middle of the afternoon one

OhWhyNot · 05/12/2021 11:44

Normal ? Since when ?

I took ds to one party that started this early on a Sunday every parent was moaning behind the birthday child parents backs

Mind you you could start a thread saying ‘my child has been invited to birthday party on the moon I think this is too far’ and you would still get replies perfectly normal op

NynaeveSedai · 05/12/2021 11:45

Totally normal when they are small

NynaeveSedai · 05/12/2021 11:46

@TheVanguardSix

I love how this is normal and totally fine (like porn!) in MN world, but in the real one, we'd all be having a good moan about it, OP.
I remember loads of parties at this time when DS was in primary and it literally never occurred to me to be annoyed and I never heard anyone else he annoyed. Aren't you up and doing stuff anyway when you have young kids?
diddl · 05/12/2021 11:48

I'm not sure it's usual, but I wouldn't view it as a great inconvenience either.

I'm guessing parties were/are often in the afternoon as the idea behind is games/activities followed by a birthday tea?

DeepaBeesKit · 05/12/2021 11:50

Really normal. Otherwise people often have family plans and you get a lot of kids not turning up.

StrongLegs · 05/12/2021 11:50

10:30am is peak season for us. Anything after that and I am just winding down to sleep.

Speaking of which, why is there no tired or sleep emoticon on mumsnet.?

Is it because we're always tired and never asleep?

PuppyMonkey · 05/12/2021 11:53

So what if they’re eating pizza and nuggets at 11.30am? It’s no weirder than eating them between 2-4pm or whenever you consider is a normal time for a party.Confused

EvilEdna1 · 05/12/2021 12:00

Enjoy it....it won't be long before you are being asked to collect a variety of teens from a party at gone midnight on a Saturday night and deliver them to various homes while they all pretend they haven't been drinking. I'd take 10.30am over that.

GreenClock · 05/12/2021 12:00

I think it’s quite thoughtful at this time of year to keep parents’ and guardians’ afternoons free for activities and family visits.

My kids are late teens now but I remember one party that was laser tag in a city centre location 5-7pm on a Wednesday. Rush hour traffic made it very difficult to reach on time and working parents had to ask for lifts for their children. It seemed so silly because we had so many great options for parties in the outskirts where we all lived.

WonderfulYou · 05/12/2021 12:01

I’d say pretty normal and considerate.

If it was midday it would mess up peoples entire day so they couldn’t do much else and if it was evening it could mess up bedtime routines as the kids will be hyper.

Insert1x20p · 05/12/2021 12:02

V normal and when they were pre-school age I'd say morning parties were more common and generally preferred.

EdgeOfTheSky · 05/12/2021 12:04

It isn’t an unusual time to go to soft play or other activities, so what’s the issue with it being a party?

Surely the kids are up early anyway? What do you have to do?