There was a keg...

[psophia17]

...at the 1st birthday party that DS and I went to today. A keg. I just can't get over it. And the only food served was cut up veggies. I think there was more to come, but when I left 2 hours into the party (to go to another party, lucky us), it hadn't been sighted yet.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm no expert on 1st birthday parties, and that I didn't even know what a keg looked like until I was a couple of years into college, but seriously...a keg at a first birthday party?

There were about 15 kids and 25 adults at the party when I left - is that enough people to justify getting a keg?

[bostonsmama]

Was it a young couple?

Seriously, that doesn't sound too different from the first and second birthday parties of our good friend's son. There were beers and Sangria to go around, then we started grilling 2-1/2 hours into it. Shortly after we ate, there was about 20 minutes of cake and gift opening and then all the adults went back to chatting, playing Jenga w/ vodka shots, dollar poker....the party lasted until 2 in the morning. Aidan (her DS) got tired around 7pm, was taken upstairs to fall asleep w/ his 6-month old sister, and we all just partied on. It isn't what I call a Better Homes and Garden moment, but they're just that kind of people (young 30s).


Larissa
who is still trying to give birth so she can have more to say

[HannaAddict]

No keg here, but we did have a lot of beer on ice (courtesy of relative who works for distributor!), nice wine selection, and a bunch of champagne for a birthday toast. (And of course non-alcoholic beverages.) We went through all the champagne (and I thought we would have a ton left) and our own champagne not earmarked for the party! We had a lot of food too, heavy hors d'oeuvres and it was an afternoon party (after lunch but before dinner).

Was it a "full keg" or pony keg was my husband's question when I asked him about numbers for a keg!! It sounds like they should have had some food out though. I wouldn't want to spend 2 hours with my son and just some veggies.

And Petra, we missed you in sunny Seattle today. We didn't have a keg but had plenty of good food!

Kimberly
DS 3/18/04

[psophia17]

Awww - I was wishing I was in Seattle all day, instead of where I was! Next year, I'm there...I promise.

About the keg...I'm pretty sure it was a full keg (what's a pony keg?) - it was housed in a small fridge with a tap on top.

The parents are in their early 30s, and the party was mostly family, all with kids. The vibe I got was that the adults planned to get smashed as quickly as possible, while the kids ran wild in the yard. It didn't come close to the vibe of "let's get together and have some drinks, enjoy the weather and the company"...there was a line-up at the keg. Except for the toddlers running around, it was like a frat party...

ETA: also, the party was from 1-4, not in the evening at all. If it had been in the evening, it wouldn't have seemed so weird to me, because at least then the kids might only have a few hours in them before bedtime and the adults really could get the party started, but for an early afternoon party with almost no food?

[HannaAddict]

A pony keg is a smaller keg, for those more select, intimate keg parties! A line at the keg, hmmm, doesn't sound like too many first birthdays I've been too. Was it a micro brew at least? :)

On a more serious note, I hope people had time to burn off the beer before driving anywhere with their little ones in the car.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Kimberly
DS 3/18/04

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

Wherever my MIL goes there is a case of Bud Lite, basptisms, bday parties-- some people!

Susan

#1 Nick 11-18-04

[aliceinwonderland]

I don't see why it's so unusual. We did not have enough people for a keg for DS's first birthday party, as it was only a small dinner with close family and friends, but there was lots of wine :)

[new_mommy25]

A keg is perfectly normal around here. WE didn't have one for Noah's party but we had 100+ people and bought a TON of beer, water, and juice from Costco. The last two first birthday luaus I went to had kegs. In fact we went to one last night and I probably drank about 3 cups of beer. Of course, the tradition here is also to always have lots and lots of good hawaiian food. Cut up veggies is just wierd. Is there a chance they were going to put out the "real" food later and you just left early?

[muskiesusan]

If the keg was in a fridge, then I bet it is a permanent fixture in their house and not special for the party. We have several friends who have kegerators. Unless it was a full size fridge, it probably was a quarter barrel or a pony keg.

With that said, my DH always buys so much beer for our partys, if would probably be cheaper for us to just get a keg! He uses it as an excuse to buy types he hasn't had and for the leftovers!


Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[jamsmu]

We had one at DS' first. Sure is cheaper... and easier... than buying bottles for everyone. It floated that night. Totally normal around here.

[buddyleebaby]

In my Dh's family, first b-day parties are huge affairs. They usually have kids come for two hours or so in the late afternoon, and then the rest is all adult guests drinking and dancing till 7am.

[psophia17]

I'm pretty surprised at the responses so far, I have to admit. I'm going to hope that they brought out a ton of (absorbent) food very soon after I left, and that the party was going to go on for a while after the official party hours were over.

I'm also going to hope the keg fridge was a fixture that they brought outside just for the event, and that the plan wasn't to have 25 people finish the whole thing in 3 hours. I can't say as I'll ever feel alright having a keg at DS's birthday parties, but I will try to not be so shocked if I see one at a kid's bday party again.

Thanks for all the responses! :)

[jesseandgrace]

Yikes I'm bored, so that sounds pretty fun. I haven't had a keg or drinks at my afternoon birthday parties, but where I went to college this would have been the absolute norm, it just wouldn't have been a party with my friends families without a keg or some cases of beer, it seems like it was just the way things were done there for childrens parties or anything.

[jerseygirl07067]

Yes, my best friend (who is not the world's biggest partier either) had the total spread for her child's first birthday party. Lots of alcohol but lots of food too.

She admitted that the party was really for the adults....:) In fact, she discouraged people from bringing their own kids so they could kick back and have fun without the responsibility of child care for a few hours. Obviously not the norm for a child's party, but we had a good time!

Marcy

[hez]

Yup-- I grew up in a house with a kegerator. In fact (I joke) that I knew how to pour beer from the tap long before I knew how to pour things like OJ. Dad usually got quarter barrels, I believe.

The kegerator has moved to my parents' basement where it now holds pop (soda for those of you who wonder) It moved there before I hit HS, I think in self-defense :)

[August Mom]

Okay, I'll be shocked with you. I've never seen a keg at a child's birthday party (or any alcoholic beverages for that matter). I guess I go to some pretty tame parties around here, but we've had punch, iced tea, lemonade, water, pop and juice/milk for the kids.

[netne]

We had wine and beer out for our DS's 1st and 2nd birthday parties. We didn't really have a keg crowd, but I don't think it's too unusual to have some alcoholic beverage selections for the adults at kids' birthday parties. Depends on the crowd and the mood of the party, I guess. It definitely wasn't the focus of our party for the adults to "get trashed" (never been our style anyway). That seems a little unusual to me, but I guess everyone's different.

[jbowman]

Petra,

We had DD's first birthday party from 11 am-1 pm on a Saturday. It didn't even occur to us to have alcohol at the party (despite the fact that adults outnumbered kids). I don't have a problem with alcohol being served at other birthday parties, but I never even considered it for ours (perhaps due to the time? Or the fact that it was circus-themed, LOL!).

[Jeanne]

Actually, everyone I know would find it downright weird to be invited to a 1st Birthday at a house without some form of adult alcoholic refreshments.

We had over 120 adults at our girl's 1st parties. They were big end-of-summer get together and much more for the adults than kids present. There was also tons and tons of serious food and both parties lasted almost 8 hours. When you get up to that many people, bottles and cans become prohibitive. We only get a keg when the number goes past 50.

Oh and by the way, our Christenings were both like that as well. We have tons of family and friends so it's par for the course around here.

[R2sweetboys]

I'm with you Petra, I think that's just odd. Don't get me wrong, I can drink with the best of 'em but a first birthday party doesn't seem like the place or time. I can understand a little wine or beer to celebrate I guess, but a keg just seems weird to me. I remember offering my dad a beer at my son's party and he refused because it was a child's birthday party.(and he has his fair share :) )

I'm pretty shocked at the responses too. I honestly thought most people would think this was not O.K. It just sounds like the reason for having the party(a BABY!!!)is being overlooked. Also, we had about 10-15 people at our sons' first birthdays.(close family) It sounds like for some people this is a huge occasion with tons of people so obviously we all have different ideas and traditions.


~Leslie

SAHM to...
Ryan 8/14/00
Matthew 2/14/03

[jamsmu]

its also a celebration of the first year for the parents. The baby, who had a great time, won't remember the party. We invited about 100 people -- many who had kids. We had a family picnic in our backyard. But we also invited everyone we felt we "owed" (for lack of a better word.) It was our chance to celebrate with our friends and enjoy time with them... a lot of whom we hadn't spent too much time with since the baby had been born.

[Judegirl]

I'll cop to it with ya, Petra...I'm shocked too. :)

Jude

[ddmarsh]

ITA - shocked. I've been a mom for 13 years and with all of the parties, etc. we've had and been to I have never once seen a keg. I honestly would never dream that anyone outside of college would have one in their home.

[DebbieJ]

I agree with you Petra. Totally inappropriate.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif

[redhookmom]

I was just at a first birthday and there was lots of beer and wine. It was all gone by the end of the party so I guess people thought it was a good idea. :-)
Different families do things differently. I think my dh would think a keg was fine. (economical, convienent) I wouldn't let it happen. But it would just be about apperances for me because I would buy bottles of beer for guests.

[jasabo]

We always serve beer at our parties, and every party we've been to has had beer also. We've never had a keg - we always have bottles in a big cooler and usually offer wine too. I don't see anything wrong with serving alcohol. I mean, really - birthday parties for young kids are for adults, not kids. That's how we view it anyway. A one year old has no idea that it's their birthday. As long as people aren't getting totally sloshed and doing keg stands, I don't see anything wrong with it.

Lisa - mom to 2 yr old twin boys

[chlobo]

I guess I'm in the shocked camp. We served alcohol at DDs party but it wasn't the focus and there wasn't a lot of it.

That said, I also don't have tons of friends so I could never host a huge party so there would never be any need for a large quantity of alcohol.

[Jeanne]

We consider the 1st year Bday more of a party for the adults. Once a child hits 4 and you start having kid themed bday parties that are held in the morning or early afternoon for 2 hours, then of course this is not an adult party with alcohol. These things are usually held at some activity place and are just for the kids.

[lovin2shop]

All of the 1st birthday parties that I have been to have been more for the adults than the babies. But Drew is the oldest in our circle of friends and most of our friends only have one child so far. I would expect the types of parties to change once everyone's kid(s) start getting older. To me it is perfectly normal to have an adult party when the only kids present are all babies.

[Jeanne]

We have two huge reasons to get kegs when we host parties of 120+:

One: No waste of glass and aluminum. Admittedly, kegs aren't the classiest thing but I'm more concerned with my impact on the environment than I am with what someone may think appearance wise. And besides, I'm don't have any friends that prioritize that way.

Two: Many of my friend's kids are in their teen years and despite being good kids, they do like to drink – as nearly all teenagers do (I don’t condone this by the way as that’s why we get a keg to try to safeguard against it). It's very easy to take a few cans or bottles out of a cooler and hide them in clothes and walk away, but nearly impossible to fill a glass from a keg and get away with it.

I’m curious as to what people think these parties are? I would assume that most of us who serve alcohol at our kid’s bday parties don’t resemble the type of parties that we attended in college. My friend throws bigger parties than mine for her neighborhood and goes through several kegs. And the funniest part is that she’s the ONLY person on the street who isn’t a Doctor, Lawyer, or Teacher.

[mary b]

This is our plan too Jeanne. I totally agree with you that family and friends would think we were very strange to not have any alcohol at the party. We usually have our parties after naps around 4-5 and everyone stays several hours.

Mary
mom to Noelle and Lindsey

[wagner36]

>One: No waste of glass and aluminum. Admittedly, kegs aren't
>the classiest thing but I'm more concerned with my impact on
>the environment than I am with what someone may think
>appearance wise. And besides, I'm don't have any friends that
>prioritize that way.


We just threw a 4 day party for all of our friends of college - it was actually supposed to be a baby shower, but people started coming in for more and more days, and next thing you knew we were entertaining 30 for many days in a row. I can't agree with Jeanne more about the bottles. We went through the entire stash of delicious small microbrews in bottles by the 2nd night (like $350 worth of beer), and we promptly went and got three kegs. Granted, they were delicious local breweries and 5 gallon kegs, but there were 3 nonetheless. I can't even tell you how wonderful it was to not worry about glass breaking with all of the kiddos running around, and not have the constant klinking and running to the recycling bin.

[Sillygirl]

It's interesting to read the responses here - all over the map! Personally, I'm more shocked at having 100+ people over for a 1 year old's birthday party. I've always thought those were more appropriately small, intimate affairs for family. I think these people's real sin was in not feeding people better.

[deborah_r]

I think it's weird that there was a keg, but hey, I don't get out much! What is weirder (and very poor hosting) is that there was no real food. Even if it just hadn't come out yet, WTH, you're supposed to go without food for 2 hours??? In the absence of food, it gives the impression that the only reason people were there was to drink, drink, drink.

As the host of the party, I would worry that not enough people would stay sober and there would not be adequate supervision of the children.

[Vajrastorm]

The only reason we didn't have a keg (or a pony keg) at dd's first birthday is for image reasons. A friend and I joked about having a keg from our favorite local brewery, but I didn't want the "keg party" baggage. We served beer and wine, no one got drunk, and the kids all had fun too.

About half of our friends serve alcohol at first birthdays, and half don't.