Kids party, stay with or drop off and pick up?

[DCS]

I'm curious. What do you do?
Iv had about 3 parents say they will drop off their kid and pick them up.
I just about know the names of these kids, they are all about 4/5. It's a 2 hour party. What if the kid gets upset? Or needs the loo? What about at food time? How do I know if they have allergies or if they are vegetarians? It's in a leisure centre, so even though we have half the hall the other half is still open to the public, and on the one side we have there is about 4 doors.
I have one friend who doesn't have her 2 boys the weekend of the party, so they are being left with us and picked up, but i know them, and they know me and OH, if they need anything they would come and tell us, and have been to our house several times. So I feel it's slightly different.

Idk, what's the norm here?

Also pictures, can I take pictures?

I feel like I should probably get them to fill in a consent form and give me multiple contact numbers. Obviously this is slightly excessive but I'm freaking out at the thought of being left in charge of a bunch of kids, as well as my own 2, with a bouncy castle in the sports hall of a leisure centre which has 2 huge pools, and leads onto a very busy main road.

 

[Nibblenic]

No we certainly dont drop off here, not in public buildings.

Ive never held a 'drop off' party and wont anytime soon. Mines now almost 7 and I wouldnt expect to to a drop off at a party in a public place. I think when theres a handful going to a house its different but I would wait to be invited or as the host if it is a drop off one

 

[alibaba24]

It seems to vary I ask the parent what there preference is now she's 6 I'm happy to drop off . With allergies just ask send out a message requesting that info. Same with photos just a quick msg to see if anyone objects

 

[Quartz]

We have done drop off parties since Year 1 (when they turned 6) but that time I knew everybody had all their numbers etc. DD party a week on Sunday is a disco in a hall and 20 girls are coming - the majority will be dropped off and left but I know them all really well.

Anyone dropping off I would just check food allergies (I know none of mine have one, one is vegetarian and one is not allowed lollipops) and ask for a contact number (again I have them all) and that is it. Personally I do feel its a little young.

BTW what is the leisure centres policy on it do they have a adult to child ratio its worth checking. With mine I have myself, OH, my parents, the entertainer so its 1 to 4 which I think is sufficient for 6 to 7 year olds but would want 1 to 3 for 4 to 5 year olds.

 

[SophiasMummy]

I wouldn't be bothered if parents wanted to drop off their kids as long as the kid was alright with it. None of my LOs friends are really strangers as they know who I am. But then I find children easy it's parents I'm rubbish at talking to.

 

[DCS]

I don't even have numbers for a couple of them. They told me in person. I don't believe the centre has a ratio for adults to kids, but iv just txt oh to ask him as it's at his work. I will have alot of my family there, but I don't really want to have to assign people kids to keep an eye on.
I really wish OH didn't book it for on ds actual birthday, because, I really want to be able to enjoy the day with him. Not be running around stressing out.

I may just mention that there is a cafe/ bar in the centre so parents can sit out there if they don't fancy the chaos.

 

[bumpy_j]

I'm confused about the layout. What divides the hall from the public part to the hired part so to speak?

 

[DCS]

A net.

 

[caz_hills]

All of the parties at my son's school haven't specified and I've noticed a few parents dropping off and leaving their kids. I personally wouldn't as what if he was upset or hurt himself. Also, I don't know if it's fair (I wouldn't want it) on the parents either - suddenly they have to run a party and look after a million kids!

My son is currently my only child and so I don't know what is usual. My Mum said to me that when we were kids it was always dropping the kids off without parents there. x

 

[mum22ttc#3]

All parties that mine have been to have been drop off from reception year onwards. Parties that my kids have had the majority of parents have also just dropped of and picked up after the two hours, I usually ask them as they drop off and take a number if that's what they're doing. Tbh I thought it was the norm until reading the replies lol it seems the norm here anyways

 

[Natsku]

I didn't know what to expect when I had Maria's party but all the parents just dropped off and left, only one bothered to leave a contact number!

 

[Kate&Lucas]

I had exactly the same set up as you for Lucas's birthday last year and a few of the parents came in, dropped their kids and disappeared. I was panicking! It was all a bit laid-back for my liking
I had the food set up near the gap in the net so that the adults would naturally gather there and form a bit of a barrier to stop little ones escaping. Are there any older siblings going? They tend to love having a bit of responsibility, I asked a couple of the older kids to keep watch for me which worked out well.
I also found with the age of them the kids were more than eager to tell on each other so if one went behind the bouncy castle or under the net at the side at least 2-3 kids would come running to me to tell me
It did get a little stressful, at one point I was following kids around and standing outside the toilet waiting like a creep

I took lots of pics, it didn't even occur to me tbh!

 

[x_WelshGirl_x]

My son is only 4, so at his party this year all the parents stopped, we went to a family members 7th birthday party and there were quite a few parents there, i'm guessing some parents just dropped their children off.
Alex was invited to his nursery friends 4th birthday which was at their house, his mum said I could either go and pick him up later or stay, Alex wanted me to stay, which I probably would have anyway as he's still only little to me lol.

 

[Sqwidge]

for my son's 5th birthday we had it in a sports hall and a few parents dropped off - i just took their numbers in case anything went wrong and checked for allergies, one of the kids had asthma so i made sure that he, i and my husband all knew where i put his inhaler in case he needed it. i had loads of family around and we basically all took reponsibility for doing head counts every so often and keeping an eye on the doors. If anyone needed the toilet, we made sure to tell them at the beginning, before all the chaos, to tell someone they were going - generally someone always went with them and just waited outside.
Pretty much all of Josh's parties since then kids have been left, but then i know the parents and the kids know me. i found the first one (his 5th) which we hosted, rather than a soft play who did it all, was the most stressful, since then though it's been a breeze.