Children's party etiquette

[HamAndStilton]

My daughter is attending her first birthday party tomorrow. A friend from nursery is celebrating her 4th birthday and is having a party in the hall of a nearby village. I'm not, however, completely sure of the appropriate etiquette with parties nowadays. Are parents expected to stay with children or do we drop her off and come back a couple of hours later..?

IME parents tend to stay at parties until children start school.If its in a hall there will be plenty of space and they'll be expecting you to stay. I always used to do teas and coffees at that age for the parents.

Enjoy yourselves

Did the invite say anything about parents? Did you RSVP? Why don't you give the girl's mother a call and ask her?

I have a 3 year old DD and I wouldn't leave her alone at a party yet.

I agree that at 4 you will almost certainly be expected to stay.

Have fun.

At a 4 year old child's party, especially if in a hall, most parents will stay. If your child is happy for you to go you can usually leave your mobile number with the birthday child's parents.
Most parents like to stay and watch with 4 and 5 year olds. Parents usually help when it is tea time, making sure your child has enough to eat and drink, and help tidy the tables after tea.

most of the parents leave their 3/4/5 year olds here - especially at whole nursery class parties where people dont even know the people running the party - i dont, i am probably an embarrassment to ds but i dont care!

Thanks for the advice. I have RSVP'd and asked the mother, but as yet, no reply. I think we'll probably stay for a while and see how she gets on. I suspect, as it's a village hall, most of the other parents will be staying.
My sister who has two older boys (8 & 10) tells me that some parents stay, others don't.