To think this is OTT for a child’s party

[TheFluentGoldNewt]

took my 4yo to a party for a child at his nursery at the weekend. It was jungle themed and Ive never seen any parent go so all out for a party before. The whole place (church hall) was outfitted in themed decorations all handmade. I’m not kidding when I say it must have been HOURS of work in making these decorations. I’ve been to weddings that were less decorated than this. I’m talking themed handmade bunting going back and forth, themed balloon decorations (made not bought), a table runner, homemade props everywhere etc.

is this seriously what we are doing for parties now or is this parent seriously out of touch?

I honestly can’t imagine spending my evenings up to my elbows in glue and faff for a 2 hour party for 4year olds!

Obviously if these decorations were handmade, the hosts are artistic and creative and enjoyed making them. Nothing wrong with that, surely ?

🙄

It would have been absolutely fine to have this thought and not posted it online

Meow 🐈

What a very bitchy post.

If the host sees this thread, there may not be an invite next year and word will go round.

Sounds great and what’s wrong with using imagination. I would be pleased that my child was invited to a fab party rather than the usual soft play. Honestly 🤨

Sounds awesome. Maybe other children would appreciate it more than yours in the same way that some of us would appreciate it more than you do.

I loved doing all that stuff when mine were little.

Space party with jet packs made from empty 2l lemonade bottles for each kid.

Pirate party with gold sprayed cardboard cutlass and jolly roger bunting. Pin the pirate to the Crow's Nest.

You'd have hated me

Ok I get it, im being an asshole 😂 Im not trying to be a cow about it it was impressive. Just not something Ive seen anyone do before. But if it made them happy then all is good!

Strange sort of jungle with coral and jellyfish!
but Yabu
up to them and it didn’t hurt anyone.
I went ott for a couple of parties when mine were younger and cringe about it a bit now but at the time it made me (and them) happy

That wasn't the tone of your first post. You wanted a thread where people bitch about the host and how ott they are. Personally I love arts and crafts. It's a hobby and I enjoy doing things like this. If you don't that's fine. I hope the host is not on mn. This is really unkind.

See, I quote like crafts. But I'm not great at them. So I can see how it feels a good opportunity to make Stuff - kids won't care if it's a bit wonky. Same as people who bring homemade cakes 🎂 places, because they like baking.

I’m literally sat here right now making pom Pom and tassel bunting with leftover yarn from various knitting projects to decorate the village hall I hired for my 4 year old birthday party.
I enjoy doing it and I would much rather make things myself with materials I have at home than buy something from a shop. I’ll reuse them afterwards.
I also plan to paint a welcome sign and do a fun space themed backdrop with planets. My daughter likes to join in and help and I think it’s important for her to see her mum being creative. I work in a creative job and all my hobbies are creative.

Am I…out of touch?

That sounds lovely! I hope everyone had a lovely time

Was it jungle or underwater? I don't get the theme, but if they enjoyed doing it then great.

Whoops. I said jungle in first post to not be identifying and then forgot 😂 it was actually ocean themed hence the jellyfish.

im accepting people’s opinions tbf - I think it was ott and a bit pointless but I get it, not my choice and not my problem what someone else wants to waste their time on!

I thought you said it was jungle themed?

Yeah, I explained above, Ive been an idiot

I went to a couple of brilliant parties (2nd and 3rd birthdays) this weekend where it was clear the parents had put in a lot of thought and effort.

i personally don’t do parties until mine are 4 years old and can actually name some friends they want to attend.

It's very telling that that you're saying the parents are "wasting their time" making these decorations for their child.

It is likely arts and crafts is their hobby, or a friend/relative’s hobby. If they want to do that in their spare time then I can imagine imagine I would be congratulating them rather than making a post on MN about them, even if it is now thinly veiled as being a compliment

I can be quite cynical - and also quite low-effort - but this is really mean-spirited! There’s not some kind of race to the bottom for how little effort you can get away with going to for your children. Nor is there a race to the top. Do you realise that the fact that the parents have done this offers no indication whatsoever of how clever they are, how wealthy they are (aside from the fact they can afford any kind of party), how ‘in touch’ they are, or how much they love their child?

What has it got to do with you?

You sound jealous

Did you attend the party and think to yourself ‘Mm, i reckon this will be a good post on mumsnet’

😳

At least it wasn't Diddy themed.

I’d just be grateful to the hosts that my child was invited to the party. It seems unkind to judge them or look down on it by saying they ‘wasted their time’ as they clearly wanted to make the party decor from scratch and that’s up to them.

And any of this is your problem, why?