DD 14th birthday

[WorriesRus]

My DD is 14 next week and after much deliberation has decided she would like to go ice skating with 8 school friends. I am happy to pay for them all to go skating but would struggle to pay for food too. I was thinking of feeding them here then all of them getting the train to the ice rink (We would also pay the train fare) and getting parents to collect them from there. All the friends are already 14, some nearly 15 so is it acceptable to let them go along without me or should I go and be responsible for them all?

It used to be so easy when we were hiring a soft play area for a couple of hours!!

I'm a cautious kind.

I think maybe I would want an adult nearby (ie not a train ride away) in case of accidents. However if I knew and trusted you/your DD I would probably be OK with that plan. Especially if my DD could already skate.

I probably wouldn't go, but make sure that the girls (and their parents) knew that so they could refuse the invitation if they were concerned.

That way, if something did go wrong, you wouldn't have irate parents asking why you weren't there.

Will you also be driving over to pick your DD up at the end? If so you could go a little earlier than strictly necessary and have a coffee while you hover, being available to sort out any issues prior to other parents arriving.

Same here.

I might check with the parents that they were happy with the arrangement and keep my fingers crossed that they are

I would go with them and have a coffee while they were skating. And yes, I would think you are responsible as it's your DDs party.

Thanks for your replies, DD has now decided it's too stressful having nine and she now only wants 4 to go (including herself), which means I can drive them all down and collect them too. It also means I can afford for them to eat out too!! Problem solved