What do you think of this birthday party timing?

[Beth568]

I'm thinking of having my DD's 2nd birthday party at a local indoor playground. We'll probably invite 4 or her friends and their older siblings (who are really DD1's friends - that way I figure everyone will be happy).

We have a 1 hour 45 minute time slot at the place. If I have the party from 10:30 to 12:15, and we end with cake, do you think it's OK that I'm not serving lunch? We get a party room at the playground, and we can bring our own cake, but I don't want to drag in lunch for everyone (and I figure the little ones won't eat much anyway).

If you were invited, would you be annoyed with me for giving kids cake at noon and not lunch?

[stella]

honestly, I would.

But could you offer cheese and crackers w/ baby carrots or finger sandwiches when they first get there or at 11:00 as a break in the playing?

I like for mine to eat something "real" before the nap and cake at noon without something of substance could interfere with how well they nap. Of course, running and playing for an hour and a half will certainly wear them out!

But since you asked, yes, I would be annoyed.

[sdbc]

I would be slightly annoyed. By the time we got home, it would be naptime, and DD would have had nothing but cake for lunch. That said, I wouldn't be *that* annoyed, since it would be just a one time thing. Not like she'd think everyday was cake-for-lunch-day.
Sue, mommy to Aurora (Rory) born 5/13/04

[DebbieJ]

I would be annoyed.

The timing is bad. I think the idea of finger sandwiches and other heathier munchies is a good idea.

Then again, the kids will most likely be too distracted to eat.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
Breastfeeding After Reduction is possible! www.bfar.org

http://www.bfar.org/members/fora/style_avatars/Ribbons/18months-bfar.jpg

[hez]

"If you were invited, would you be annoyed with me for giving kids cake at noon and not lunch?"

Probably, but I'm easily annoyed lately, which is my problem, not yours ;)

I agree that some kind of finger food snack sounds absolutely appropriate as a break to the playing. Even if they don't eat much, the gesture will be appreciated.

If you're not serving lunch, you may want to warn the parents so they have something planned pre or post party.

[g-mama]

No. But I'm not easily annoyed. :)

I really don't mind things like this that are once-in-awhile situations. I know from six years of kids party planning that it's really hard to cover every single base. You often "get what you get" as far as time slots at party places and it's a real PITA to bring in lunch for everyone. And I've provided lunch/dinner so many times, only to watch it go uneaten by kids who are just way too excited to sit down and eat.

I try to be very understanding of those factors and the fact that throwing parties for kids is very expensive to begin with, too.


~Kristen

Paolo 11-00
Benjamin 8-03
Marco 12-05

[SnuggleBuggles]

I would like you to have offered some healthy snack. Doesn't have to be a full lunch but like others have said, cheese, crackers, veggies (not carrots though since I am overly paranoid about choking hazards before age 3 :), mini sandwiches.

Always serve little portions (or cut food up into little pieces) so that if they just take 1 bite and go back to playing they wouldn't have wasted that much food.

You could try and have the cake earlier instead of right at the end. I usually put cake time right in the middle of our party. Free play before, cake, some activityor more play depending on age.

Make sure that you include in the invitation exactly what your food plan is. I might not mind no lunch so much if you warned me ahead of time. That way I could get a good, healthy breakfast in ds first.

Beth

[spunkybaby]

Well, I did pretty much the same thing for my DD's 2nd birthday, so you'll get no complaints from me! We had the party from 10 am to 12 noon at a local party place. I provided a bunch of relatively healthy snacks from Trader Joe's (snap pea crisps, pirate booty knock-off, Kashi crackers etc.) and birthday cake. I also had water in small Dixie cups for the kids and water bottles for the adults. No one complained...at least not to me. I think we let the kids play for an hour and then invited them to the party room at 11 for snacks and birthday cake. Then they played some more.

I think part of the reason it worked was that the party was during my playgroup's regular playtime, so everyone is used to hanging out for the morning and then going home and making lunch for their kids before naptime. And another mom in the playgroup had done pretty much the same thing for her son's birthday a few weeks earlier (party at a local art studio from 10-12 with birthday cake at the end but no lunch). We did invite family and non-local guests to a restaurant afterward for lunch. I was worried that it would be awkward, but none of my local guests noticed, and everything turned out great.

ETA: clarify when cake/snacks were served

Mom to a spunky toddler
March 2004

...and another spunky baby due in Dec. 2006!