birthday party 300x200 - Birthday party etiquette for parentsAll children love to be invited to a birthday party no matter how young or old they may be. However, for the parent who is staging the event, it can be highly stressful not because of the perception of badly behaved, rowdy children but actually because of their parents. Why? There are some simple rules of birthday party etiquette that many parents just don’t know so here are some guidelines that will help to ensure that you and your child will always receive party invitations in the future.

Always RSVP
It is extremely important to let the party host know whether your child will be attending or not. One of the top complaints from children’s birthday party hosts is that parents either leave it to the last minute to accept or don’t respond at all.  This means that the host has to spend time chasing them for a reply to ascertain how much food is going to be required, paper hats, little party gifts etc.

Not sending the RSVP but arriving anyway
This is worse than not turning up at all because since the party host may not have catered for your child.  It is very rude to do this and only serves to annoy. If you have ever organised a children’s birthday party you should know how important it is that everything runs smoothly and all children are catered for.

Turning up with more children than are invited
Every parent knows how difficult it is when only one child in the family is invited to a birthday party. Trying to explain to a sibling that they have to remain at home with the babysitter is not an easy task. Most birthday party hosts are sympathetic to bringing other siblings to the party, especially if they have more than one child of their own but you do need to afford them the courtesy of asking. In 99% of cases there won’t be a problem but just turning up with them breaks the rules of birthday party etiquette in a big way.

Parents shouldn’t stay at the party unless invited
Quite often, with younger children it may be that the birthday party host will want parents to stay but not necessarily so with older children.  If it is not clear as to whether you should just drop your children off or stay with them – ask.

Discretion is the ultimate in birthday party etiquette
If your child has been invited to a birthday party you should ask them not to discuss it with their classmates. The reason for this is that some of them may not have been invited so not talking about it saves petty jealousies and bad feeling. Also prospective birthday party hosts should consult with the school about their rules for handing out invitations in school. Some schools don’t allow it but others do.

Overstaying your welcome
If you have hosted any party you’ll know how annoying it is when people simply won’t go home. The start and end time should be on the invitation so leave as quickly as you can when the party ends, since the host will very likely want to clear away the dishes and debris from the party.

We would love to hear from you if you find anything annoying or irritating about lack of consideration or bad manners related to children’s party events.

Your Family Coach

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