I had an experience this weekend and I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. We were invited to a birthday party for an acquaintance's 10 yr. old boy. I will say that, even after the party, I think the Mom is super sweet and probably a very good mom. Having said that, I think that this is the worst kid's party that I have ever been to.
For starters it was at a bar and nightclub. This bar, called Jar Jars, rents out it's space during afternoon hours for other events. It's a creative way to make extra money on the space but I'm not sure how children's parties come into play. We were unfamiliar with the area, so didn't know Jar Jar's was a bar and club.
Then there was the "entertainment." This came in the form of the nightclub DJ spinning records while all the strobe lights went off on the dance floor. It was as loud as it would have been had the club been hopping at 11 PM. You couldn't speak to the other adults, you couldn't get your child's attention, the children couldn't speak to each other. It was too loud. He opened with "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry and segued into "Low" by Flo Rida. This was the basic theme of the music for the two hour event. The average age of children there was 5 - 8 yrs old. They do not need to drop it like it's hot.
Refreshments. Open bar for the adults with the slushy machine providing drinks for the children. So, frozen strawberry margarita minus the tequila. There sat a grown man and six year old girl bellied up to the bar. One with a Pims and one with her pink slush.
The kid didn't even get to open presents. No part of the entire party focused on him at all. It was literally an afternoon at the club.
This goes down in history as the worst kid's party I have ever attended. Anyone else have an experience like this? What is the worst kid party experience you have ever had?
Totally understand the pub thing, Riley, especially after living here in the UK. A pub here is a family place. The mommy and me group meets at the local pub. The family comes for Sunday brunch or dinner and the kids play on the playground after a hearty meal. I could totally see a pub. It's no different than going to your local Applebee's except way more kid friendly with room to run and different rooms for different activities. I learned once I got here the huge difference between the local pub and the nightclub.
Oh, poor Dancin' Mama!! Holy crap!! LOL!
Wow.
Well, at least now the bar has been set pretty low. I shall sleep soundly, with the comfort of knowing I would have to work pretty hard to come up with something worse, and so will probably never have the Worst Party Ever title by accident.
Although... Flip side... I went to a GREAT 10yo kids party at a pub last year!
Clean/Sunny/Airy
Pizza / Chicken & Chips
Pool/billiards (kids looooved it)
Games
Cake
Presents
It was lovely :)
And I don't drink
Although I DO play pool!
The kids got pretty good at it.
Everyone went home happy & exhausted.
Ugh. I don't have any party as bad as that. But it drives me NUTS when adults drink alcohol at a kid's party. I'm no teetotaler (far from it), but can adults just put it down for a couple of hours and focus on the kids? Grrr.
Funny you should say that. One of the best 1st birthday parties I ever attended was at a beer hall. There were picnic tables, pitchers of beer, and weiner schnitzel. The parents were among the first in our bunch to have a child. Most of their friends were childless/ free. About 1 dozen of us, took in their company for 3-5 hours and passed around a largely agreeable, not yet walking 1 year old, and had a great time.
We always serve beer, wine, white grape juice, apple juice, water, and gingerale, regardless of whether its a christening, or sunday brunch. Kids are told that there are drinks for adults and there are drinks for children. Never been an issue.
F. B.
Funny you say that as last week on Shark Tank (TV show where entrepenuers try to raise money from 5 self-made millionaires to grow their businesses) there was a couple trying to raise money to promote their franchise idea that was basically the party you went to. They set up kids parties during the day at nightclubs - have the DJs spin tunes and serve adult refreshements for adults, and virgin blender drinks for kids. No, the sharks did not bite and didn't invest in the idea - thinking that the idea did not have mass appeal. Meanwhile I was yelling at the TV "great idea to encourage our kids from an early age to hang out in bars and go clubbing" - and then who drives home if mom and dad have been drinking?
The problem is that there are some parents who refuse to grow up and instead choose to remain an adolescent. these are the kids when they're teens are a handful - I see that now that my kids are teens.
This does sound like a bad kid's party. Bummer! :-/ Poor mom - everyone is probably talking about this.
I don't have a bad KIDS party experience, but I do have a bad wedding experience...does that count?! I will share anyway...
Wedding was in MN in July. Temperature was a steamy 96 degrees. Ceremony was nice, church had a/c. Fast forward to the reception that was at a "hoity toity" golf course/country club. My hubby (then fiance) and I got our name cards, were looking for our table, asked someone close to wedding (aunt/MOG, maybe?) where our table was because we weren't seeing a table with our number. She said, "Oh you guys are in the outside tent!"
So...we, COUSINS of the groom, were seated at what we affectionately called the "kids table" OUTSIDE in a plastic (typical white event) tent! It was HOTTER THAN HOT! We tried undoing one of the sides of the tent to get some airflow and one of the waiters yelled at us...
Oh wait! There is more! We are sitting around, waiting, wondering when the food is going to come. What time is it, anyway? 7:30....WHAT? Dinner was on the invites for 6:30! Keep waiting...we did not get served dinner until 8:00. Turns out they FORGOT about those seated in the tent and when they had "extra" food inside, they asked those in the dining room if anyone wanted seconds!!
Most of us cousins at the kids table (most of whom were 21 and older) were drunk and hungover before we even got our food! .....That was our joke...but it was a pretty pathetic wedding reception, indeed. Needless to say, the marriage didn't last very long.
Your post literally made me giggle. Wow what a party.
I don't think I can top that one!
Yeah, it could have been fun with the dancing and the lights if they had nixed the alcohol, had a DJ with half a brain, and turned the volume down. She might be nice, but who was this party for really?
There was one birthday party a while ago where the parents were so busy entertaining that they didn't notice their son ripping toys out of other kids' hands, tackling them (completely laying on them) for the toys, throwing sand and rocks at other kids who wanted to dig in the sandbox and generally making a few of the kid guests miserable. All nice people and the child grew out of that phase, but not relaxing or fun at all.
And another-- the mom of the birthday child was just in a frenzy, prepping for the party during the party. We were stuck in a group of her adult friends whom we'd never met. That was during our child-free days-- so we stayed for half and hour, dropped off the present for the birthday child and went to a movie, muttering 'never again'.
I can see your frustration with that. My daughter was recently invited to a party at a food buffet. I was very surprised and stunned that it lasted 4 hours! They did have a separate area but not much free space without chairs and tables. My daughter said they did play 1 or 2 games but mostly they just ate. 4 hours of pizza, hamburgers,cotton candy, ice cream, candy and a birthday cake! We try to be kind and encourage playing with friends from all walks of life. I will not, however, ever do that again.
Well, with all the "my super sweet 16" type shows, I'm not really surprised. It's not exactly something I'd want my child to attend, but I can see how some people might think it's "trendy" or something.
Maybe it was just supposed to be a dance party that was poorly executed. Also, we don't open presents at parties for my kids. Granted, they're only 1 and 3, but I find that kids generally don't really like sitting around watching other kids open presents. :)
This made me LAUGH! Why not do it the old-fashioned way and have it at home?
Wow! That is crazy!
Is it possible that the family or a family friend owns the bar? And offered to let them host the party there as a favor? Maybe they thought they could make it more kid-friendly and it would be ok. But, obviously it failed.
hahaha, that is pretty bad! I went to a 2 year olds b-day party last year. It was the son of a friend from work. She told me that she had rented a hall. she also made a comment that was something to the effect of "the kids will entertain themselves". So, I was thinking in my head umm, no they dont. They will run amuck if you dont have any structure to the party. So, before I left that day, I put a couple of toys in the van. A couple of balls and some trucks/cars. (my kids are 4 and 1). At the hall, it was just a big empty building with a few tables, and her hubby playing DJ. He too was playing totally inappropriate songs (agreed, they do NOT need to drop it like its hot!!). Anyway, after the kids running crazy for 10 minutes I went and got the ball and the trucks and brough them in. The kids were all over it!! The bigger kids all played ball for hours, and the little kids pushed the trucks around. My friend thanked me after the party and said she had not considered bringing any toys :0)
Wow, that's pretty bad. The worst ever was my sister's non-party when she was 7 and nobody showed up at all.
Hi, L.:
What you reported here needs to be reported not only to the Mother but also to the nightclub.
The bar owner could lose his liquor license.
Good luck.
D.
Wow.....that is horrible. I once went to a one yr old party where the menu was ribs on the grill, Coronas and sports center was on TV, no cake severed after two hours (the time we left), no games except a huge bouncie house that was too hard for brand new walkers, maybe two balloons up in the kitchen as decoration...but your party disaster trumps even that!
Wow...just wow. Parents...psh!!!
I think we would have politely found an excuse to leave early. Totally inappropriate for that age group. I don't like the idea of a "bar party/dance club party" for kids. I know that is not how it was sold to everyone...but that is the image it was portraying. Were there poles on the dance floor too?!?
Heck..I hate going to Chuck E. Cheeses for bday parties...but it is for the kids..not me. Looks like these parents were really trying to entertain the parents and make it social for themselves...but happened to include the kids also.
I am sorry...but this party is a no no in my book. I don't think it is a smart idea to make these grown up activities enticing to children at such an impressionable age. How about poker games in the corner, betting with goldfish crackers. How about bubble gum cigars and cigarettes also??
I can't even compare any child parties I have attended up against that display of disgraceful behavior. Sorry..you do get the first place ribbon..that is the worst!!
