that " book in a party bag " idea some CLOT had once

[Frivol]

well it goes down very badly here.
My kids like books.

they like parties

they like party bags

they dont like them mixing.

a party bag BEST case scenario is sweets, with a football keyring( who has keys aged 6?!) if you haev to.

You can get those little World Book Day books for a £1. Or Mr Men books. Or books from a remainder bookshop for next to nothing. Or even a comic!

We quite often receive party bags with packets of seeds in. Sometimes we find packets of raisins in there too. Never flash cards though . Must be the circles we move in, but my dds are fine with that. I think they're used to it.

Hair slides would go down a storm with both dd and ds at the moment.

Am impressed by the mum mentioned below who put in ONE sunflower seed. That would not work out so expensive....

btu mister men books ARE shiter than the shitiest parachute man.

they are badly written crap!

Lol at one sunflower seed

We would be sniffy about Rainbow fairy books, or those dreadful world book day books, or books tied in with tv shows, or Little miss books. And those better collections you can get from Book people - well, we have most of those already.

It's easier to stick to plastic tat in some ways. I have considered the book options but come up against difficulties in finding suitable books which the children won't already have.

I don't think Mr Men books are that awful, are they? The original ones, at least. Besides, the main thing is that children read: it doesn't matter what, at first.

you see you know where you are with seeds tat.

with a book you look at it and think " i wonder how cheap this was"

it doesnt FOOL anyone

Mr Men just about bearable. Little misses are grim. In my opinion. We had one, Little Miss Splendid, from a party bag. Yuk.

what about little miss justdivorced.

We'd prefer Ms books (size not important, women not to be judged on their physical characteristics).

I don't think anyone would find that odd in a party bag, would they?

Oddly, I never look at a book and think 'I wonder how cheap this was', and if I child did so, I would assume they had materialistic parents who weren't very interested in reading.

never!

Party bags are the invention of the devil and have been devised purely for the torture of parents everywhere. You're supposed to spend a fortune on them, make sensible, informed choices about what to go in them, and then some ungrateful little "angel" will complain because they haven't got bubbles/a squishy monster face that sits on your finger/a bouncy ball/the latest Hannah Montana crap etc etc etc.

When your own DCs go to a party you get loads of plastic tat, sweets which send your kids hyper and if both DCs haven't been invited to the same party always invoke some sort of argument about 'sharing', a piece of cake which never ever gets eaten and just turns mouldy in a napkin (usually secreted under DDs bed) and farking balloons!

I hate them.

Hate, hate, hate them.

Actually, the only times my dds have complained about party bags is when there are separate ones for girls and boys - they try and steal the boys ones, it caused a problem at the last party. cos they prefer the boys toys to hairslides. They pinched 2 boys bags and then some boys didn't have any.

OK, shall I say it then....

....maybe kids should learn to be grateful for what they get?

....maybe mums should stop judging other mums on the contents and price tag of a party bag?

yes but a bit of complaining is allowed non?

or whole site goes down really.

Hear hear Hulababy! I don't do them anymore. I am mean.

Yes, but you just can't win.

Some people don't like plastic tat
Some people don't like books
Some people don't like sweets
Some people don't like chocolate
Some people son't like seeds
Some people don't like balloons
Some people don't like party bags full stop

So, probably best to do your party bags int he way you want to, and ignore the whingers.

I didn't think the seeds/books vs tat dilemma was about judging the mum, more about what seems "right" to put in it vs what would actually go down a storm on the day.

I do party bags based on whatever my party theme is...last year DS had a beach party and we did plastic sand pails with goldfish crackers, mini bottles of sunscreen, and a plastic lobster bath toy. This year it'll be a farm party, so I'll do farm stickers, candy corn, and...not sure what yet!

a sheep?

Oh I think some of it is def judging the mum!

"vwith a book you look at it and think " i wonder how cheap this was""

"Its wanky. And smugness."

etc.

yes and conversely the mother is judging herself
"i dont think those kids need stuff so i will make a BETTER idea and do a book "

All I know is it's a minefield.

Agree wholeheartedly Hulababy!