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westwoodmom04
12-18-2020, 07:53 PM
I just spent the last half hour being harassed and screamed at by my high schooler because I won’t allow them to go to a 4 hour birthday party with at least 20 other kids at an event space this evening. Every weekend one or the other of them is salty because I won’t allow them to go to a multi-kid sleepover. I am really resenting the parents who are putting me in this position by having these events, and the parents who allow their kids to go.

Philly Mom
12-18-2020, 08:04 PM
I just spent the last half hour being harassed and screamed at by my high schooler because I won’t allow them to go to a 4 hour birthday party with at least 20 other kids at an event space this evening. Every weekend one or the other of them is salty because I won’t allow them to go to a multi-kid sleepover. I am really resenting the parents who are putting me in this position by having these events, and the parents who allow their kids to go.

I agree. It is so frustrating. Sorry that you are dealing with this.

westwoodmom04
12-18-2020, 08:35 PM
I agree. It is so frustrating. Sorry that you are dealing with this.

Thank you, so looking forward to being on the other side of this.

nfceagles
12-18-2020, 08:48 PM
I just spent the last half hour being harassed and screamed at by my high schooler because I won’t allow them to go to a 4 hour birthday party with at least 20 other kids at an event space this evening. Every weekend one or the other of them is salty because I won’t allow them to go to a multi-kid sleepover. I am really resenting the parents who are putting me in this position by having these events, and the parents who allow their kids to go.

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georgiegirl
12-18-2020, 08:55 PM
I would be livid as well. WTF people? I agree that it’s hard with teenagers.


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Mommy_Mea
12-18-2020, 09:08 PM
I just spent the last half hour being harassed and screamed at by my high schooler because I won’t allow them to go to a 4 hour birthday party with at least 20 other kids at an event space this evening. Every weekend one or the other of them is salty because I won’t allow them to go to a multi-kid sleepover. I am really resenting the parents who are putting me in this position by having these events, and the parents who allow their kids to go.I feel you, so frustrating :(

jgenie
12-18-2020, 11:11 PM
I so know the feeling. I’m tired of being the bad guy but indoor events aren’t happening for our family. Sorry!

lizzywednesday
12-19-2020, 11:33 AM
I had to turn down DD's bestie's party last month because it was indoors at a skating rink.

Bestie's mom tried her best to convince us it was fine - the place does temp-checks at the door! they're only inviting a handful of girls! they'll all be masked! - and I'm glad it's within her comfort zone, but it's way outside ours. (Especially because it was also during the Open Skate period, so it wouldn't just be the kids attending the party - it'd be their parents, and the public, and the exponent tree I was visualizing was out of control, so I guess I'm really a math person at heart!)

It's hard enough when DD feels left out, lonely, or otherwise isolated, but it is a frickin' pandemic and community spread numbers are rising.

♥ms.pacman♥
12-19-2020, 11:57 AM
so sorry. i'd be super frustrated too. i agree, it's a very poor example for the parents to set by hosting this.

i'm lucky that my kids are a bit younger (4th and 5th grade) - they actually scoff when they see others having get togethers one of their BFFs families is super strict like us and that helps. my kids are also in the Roblox/gaming stage and they play online with their friends and cousins and that seems to satisfy them. i can imagine in the high school stage it is really hard though.

SnuggleBuggles
12-19-2020, 12:57 PM
Over the spring and summer we let ds1 form a pod with 4 other friends. It was nice because the parents were also able to occasionally get together (outside, small groups). But, since he has been home for winter break I think all of the parents feel a bit reluctant to have the kids re-form their pod. I would have been ok with it though so I am hopeful things can resume a little bit. No parties though. Geez. What is going on with some people??

gatorsmom
12-19-2020, 04:22 PM
That sucks. Behavior like this will automatically mean kids from vulnerable families can’t participate, alienating them even more than isolating, virtual learning and quarantining have done. WTH?

In October our Scout Master decided it would be fun for the girls to all camp in the same tent. This was when cases were rising quickly. When I asked him why he could think this is a good idea he thought all the local schools were doing a good job of distancing kids so everyone sharing a tent would be low risk. One of the other parents (a doctor) chimed in that she was ok with it. For goodness sake, all summer the girls were camping in their own tents. What benefit would they get from all sleeping in a large troop tent that would be worth the risk of sharing COVID19?

I’ll admit, I sabotaged it. I called the campground and asked if they had rules about tent-sharing right now with local COVID19 cases rising. They of course don’t want a super spreader event at the campground so they said it tent-sharing wasn’t allowed except among family. The Scout Master scrapped the idea, thank goodness. Bunch of brainiacs.

♥ms.pacman♥
12-19-2020, 04:43 PM
That sucks. Behavior like this will automatically mean kids from vulnerable families can’t participate, alienating them even more than isolating, virtual learning and quarantining have done. WTH?

In October our Scout Master decided it would be fun for the girls to all camp in the same tent. This was when cases were rising quickly. When I asked him why he could think this is a good idea he thought all the local schools were doing a good job of distancing kids so everyone sharing a tent would be low risk. One of the other parents (a doctor) chimed in that she was ok with it. For goodness sake, all summer the girls were camping in their own tents. What benefit would they get from all sleeping in a large troop tent that would be worth the risk of sharing COVID19?

I’ll admit, I sabotaged it. I called the campground and asked if they had rules about tent-sharing right now with local COVID19 cases rising. They of course don’t want a super spreader event at the campground so they said it tent-sharing wasn’t allowed except among family. The Scout Master scrapped the idea, thank goodness. Bunch of brainiacs.

WOW, i am just wow, that a Scout Master would encourage that, amidst the rise in cases! i mean, WHY do people need to be sharing a tent?

And Thank you for stepping in and quashing that. That is the right thing to do.i'm sure other parents felt wary but didn't want to be outlier. it's exhausting always having to be the "adult" or "bad guy" in these situations.

ett
12-19-2020, 05:34 PM
That sucks. Behavior like this will automatically mean kids from vulnerable families can’t participate, alienating them even more than isolating, virtual learning and quarantining have done. WTH?

In October our Scout Master decided it would be fun for the girls to all camp in the same tent. This was when cases were rising quickly. When I asked him why he could think this is a good idea he thought all the local schools were doing a good job of distancing kids so everyone sharing a tent would be low risk. One of the other parents (a doctor) chimed in that she was ok with it. For goodness sake, all summer the girls were camping in their own tents. What benefit would they get from all sleeping in a large troop tent that would be worth the risk of sharing COVID19?

I’ll admit, I sabotaged it. I called the campground and asked if they had rules about tent-sharing right now with local COVID19 cases rising. They of course don’t want a super spreader event at the campground so they said it tent-sharing wasn’t allowed except among family. The Scout Master scrapped the idea, thank goodness. Bunch of brainiacs.

Wow, I can't believe your Scout Master would think that was even remotely okay. Our council has outlined very strict rules and no sharing tents among non-family members is definitely one of them.

lizzywednesday
12-20-2020, 10:51 AM
...

In October our Scout Master decided it would be fun for the girls to all camp in the same tent. ... What benefit would they get from all sleeping in a large troop tent that would be worth the risk of sharing COVID19? ...

We aren't allowed to have Girl Scout overnights here; it's my understanding that local BSA troops & Cub Packs are bound by similar restrictions.

Heck, our GS Council doesn't allow indoor meetings & activities, so I took my troop online just ahead of the original hybrid learning date for our school district (we're currently 100% remote) to account for the increased exposure from any girls whose families chose hybrid vs remaining remote, the changing weather, and the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Of the 6 Scouts in my troop, I have two whose schools have returned to in-person school (one's at a small Catholic school; the other's in a different school district); one whose family attends in-person church services (in a town where the local PD won't enforce gathering limits); one whose mother over-schedules her (so she's pretty much booked every weeknight and most of the weekends; though all of her activities have moved to virtual, so mom is overwhelmed by email times 3); one whose in-school status I'm not entirely sure about (I'm pretty sure her district is also 100% remote); and DD, who will remain 100% virtual through the spring because we're trying to limit our exposure to unknowns for the ILs' sakes (ILs are over 70; MIL is in remission from leukemia while FIL has heart issues.)

We're hopeful that numbers will be low enough in the spring to resume outdoor, in-person meetings so they can practice their campfire building skills, but we don't expect to be allowed to stay overnight until 2022 the earliest.

gatorsmom
12-21-2020, 02:27 AM
We aren't allowed to have Girl Scout overnights here; it's my understanding that local BSA troops & Cub Packs are bound by similar restrictions.

Heck, our GS Council doesn't allow indoor meetings & activities, so I took my troop online just ahead of the original hybrid learning date for our school district (we're currently 100% remote) to account for the increased exposure from any girls whose families chose hybrid vs remaining remote, the changing weather, and the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Of the 6 Scouts in my troop, I have two whose schools have returned to in-person school (one's at a small Catholic school; the other's in a different school district); one whose family attends in-person church services (in a town where the local PD won't enforce gathering limits); one whose mother over-schedules her (so she's pretty much booked every weeknight and most of the weekends; though all of her activities have moved to virtual, so mom is overwhelmed by email times 3); one whose in-school status I'm not entirely sure about (I'm pretty sure her district is also 100% remote); and DD, who will remain 100% virtual through the spring because we're trying to limit our exposure to unknowns for the ILs' sakes (ILs are over 70; MIL is in remission from leukemia while FIL has heart issues.)

We're hopeful that numbers will be low enough in the spring to resume outdoor, in-person meetings so they can practice their campfire building skills, but we don't expect to be allowed to stay overnight until 2022 the earliest..

Wow, 2022 seems like a long ways away. Your scouts can’t even camp with family members in their own tents?

The scouting organizations must be allowing troops to make their own safety decisions. Dd and DSs are all BSA scouts. All meetings are left up to the troop but ours have been via zoom or outdoors. Back in August our DD’s troop planned a winter camp for this January. It included sleeping in a lodge together the first night and then in an outdoor shelter grouped together in non-family units the second night. When the Troop Master tonight went around asking who was comfortable with this, I was shocked to hear the doctor and nurse parents in our troops give their ok to this. Dh and I agreed that we would only be ok with outdoor winter survival activities during the day. Our troop master had been saying for weeks how great this would be. I was pleased and surprised that in the end he agreed that we didn’t need to have an overnight to do some rank advancement and winter survival activities safely outdoors.

lizzywednesday
12-21-2020, 11:22 AM
.

Wow, 2022 seems like a long ways away. Your scouts can’t even camp with family members in their own tents?

Families can reserve campsites on their own, but we can't do it as a troop activity. (Our 6-girl troop would fall under the maximum state guideline limit with 8 people - we need to have a minimum of 2 Adult Volunteers, one of whom is First Aid certified/one of whom is Campout Certified to chaperone - but that doesn't matter.)

I could take DD with me on our own, but I wouldn't be allowed to take the whole troop for an overnight within current state and council COVID-19 safety guidelines.




The scouting organizations must be allowing troops to make their own safety decisions. ...

I think it varies by governing organization; GSUSA leaves decisions up to individual councils.

Even within NJ, the 4 Girl Scout councils handled the pandemic differently - Girl Scouts of Northern NJ (GSNNJ) closed their camps for anything but virtual programming over the summer. I'm fairly certain that both Girl Scouts Heart of NJ (GSHNJ) and Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore (GSJS) did the same, but Girl Scouts of Central & Southern NJ (GSCSNJ) - the council which my troops are part of - opened day-camps within state restriction guidelines, which meant no overnights, and allowed family camping reservations.

Troops are limited to day-camp options at Council properties, which max out at 20 people, including chaperones.

Overnights of any type, on Council property or not, are not permitted at the present time due to state restrictions and Council interpretation of their responsibility to the girls they serve. (Also, since they provide the insurance for troop meetings/activities, we need to follow their restrictions.)

Dayzy
12-21-2020, 11:40 AM
1. I'm shocked when people want to have these big events. One of the local high schools shut down for a month because there were a large group of students who threw a Halloween party. They found out about the party when kids were discussing it on Monday morning and sent everyone home. The end.

2. As for Scouts, my daughter's troop can meet inside, no camping though. My son is BSA. They can camp in separate tents only. The camp has closed the cabins except for emergency weather conditions.

petesgirl
12-21-2020, 11:55 AM
I feel ya. My mom called me last week all upset because her friends at work were all bragging about how fun their family Christmas parties were this year. Meanwhile, my mom decided to be responsible and cancel ours. We did a virtual one on Zoom yesterday but it wasn't quite the same.

lizzywednesday
12-22-2020, 11:57 AM
...

As for Scouts, my daughter's troop can meet inside, no camping though. ...

In our GS council, indoor meetings/activities are currently prohibited.

cagey
12-22-2020, 12:14 PM
I’ve lost track of the “unsanctioned homecoming/winter formals” that I’ve seen. These are also the same people
Upset that sports are cancelled, and I’m realizing that they’ll never get it.....

hellokitty
12-22-2020, 05:34 PM
My high schooler has been telling me about all the photos of kids on instagram at his school. I have been very lucky that my kids run in social circles where the families seem to be trying to follow guidelines. I know that peer pressure is hard, but right now it could be deadly. It sucks when the parents aren't modeling, it's the same kind of parents who buy beer for their kids.