to be annoyed with my friends who bring their staving hungry kids to parties?

[sighsighsigh]

Over this Xmas period I have held a couple of evening get-togethers for a few of my friends and all our children. However, I have noticed that a couple of my friends will always bring their children along ravenously hungry. These children will within 30 minutes to an hour of arriving, will be constantly pestering me in the kitchen for food - demanding to know where the food is. (I usually serve food approx 1 - 1.5 hours of arrival time and there is always plenty of food to go around.) One friend of mine, admitted that when there is a party she will be quite happy to skip the children's tea - which would explain why her children would be ravenous by the evening.
So, ABIU to
a) find the children's behavior irritating and rude
b) to be annoyed with their parents too?

Message withdrawn

what is "horsey doovers"?

scottishmummy I can't spell "hors d'oeuvres"

That's why I would put dips and nibbles out for when people arrive.

Kids are always hungry at someone elses house if they have been fed or not imo.

PMSL @ hbfac -

ah LOL i was intrigued (and peckish)

kids parties i lay iot all out foir arrival,nibbly stuff,sandwiches and at a point hot stuff too.but plenty on arrival.would feel mortified if folk were hungry and wondering when the scran appears

And you can't really give people booze without food either for an hour.

oh and I agree with those that say have the food prepared and ready for when the first guests start arriving.

I think I would be wondering where the food was if I went to a party where the food took 1 1/2hrs to appear

I like "horsey doovers" - much simpler to write (and say)

preparation is key.all food prepped and ready.so mingle and chat - no hassle. no hungry guests

Nibbles is the answer.

Here Awassailing try a Can-o-pee.

yep,nibbles and plenty of em.sandwiches,quiche,pizza. hell a banquet of grub for hungry guests

I do put out crisps and other nibbles etc on arrival. However the hot food usually comes out within 1-1.5hrs later - 1.5 hours being the worst case scenario. The bag of crisps for the children on arrival sounds like a good idea though - so will try that too.

i like hungry guests,eat up your at yer aunties and all that

Hot food like a cooked meal? Why not just do a buffet? Much easier and it can all be prepared and laid out in advance, leaving you time to relax with your guests.

yabu, parties=food. I don't feed dd lunch/tea of we're going to a party as i expect her to eat there.

my gripe is when it's the other way round and guests don't eat the food you've provided. This happened at a bbq we had in the summer, made loads of nice salad and provided loads of meat despite being veggie and hardly anyone at anything as they'd "just eaten" I was

It's all class here for dinner parties I tell you.

If I'm doing a party with food then I'd put out food really early especially if kids there as kids usually eat earlier than adults.
Different if just snacks and nibbles but then I'd make it clear on invitation there is limited food and I would then expect the party to start late evening after dinner so people have time to eat.
Sounds like you have a confusing middle option.
If I'm doing food I want people to be hungry and eat it.
If the kids are always hungry then why don't you react to the desires of your guests and eat earlier?

Morloth - obviously classier than here - we don't even have horsey doovers or can-o-pees - let alone anything else of those sorts

My DD would probably be acting a bit the same
She wouldn't be actually hungry. Just bored, if I'm chatting to the host/other grown ups.
Or just wanting to suss out what's on offer....most probably bored though.

YABU and abit mean, it's better that the kids are hungry surely? Sounds abit like a half hearted invitiation.