(Dear MaMas, I'd truly appreciate every one of your honest input thus far. Just to clarify, we will be given 9:00-9:30AM (30 min. before the actual party time for us to set up the party; so for that end, we feel O.K.)
Dear Moms,
My son's 5 year old birthday is coming up in a month, and I am planning to finalize on birthday party place & time to send out e-vite invitation by the end of today. I would like to invite all his pre-K classmates of about 20 kids. Unfortunately the only time slot I could get is 9:30AM-11:30AM on Saturday morning for the place I really like the best. All other weekend time slots are already booked months ahead, the manager of the business says (you can see why this particular place is so popular!). But I & my husband are a little concerned that having a kid's birthday party at 9:30AM on Saturday may be too early that we would get less turn-out and/or many people would get to the party late.... Otherwise, we would have to settle with a place which has a good time frame (i.e. 11AM-1PM, 1PM-3PM, etc.) but everything else is not as good as our first choice place. In the past, there have been several birthday parties from this same group of classmates starting at 10:00AM, but never earlier than that. The kids in this class have to arrive to their pre-K class every morning by 8:30AM Monday thru. Friday, so 9:30AM may not be too early for them, but I immagine most of moms/parents would prefer sleeping in on Saturday morning.... Our first choice place charge per time slot not by per kid, so even if we get less attendees, we still have to pay the same fixed amount, but we can invite as many kids & adults as well as having the whole place just for our party at whichever way we want to arrange. How many of you would raise your eyebrows if you get an invitation for 9:30AM Saturday birthday party and/or how many of you think this time factor would critically affect your decision of attending vs. not attending? Sorry if this is relavitely a trivial question, but as an inexperienced mom, I would appreciate your experienced opinions (rather than the "it is up to whichever you & your family feel more comfortable" type of answers)
Thanks very much in advance!
My kids get up everyday at the crack of dawn anyway so id be fine with it. I would actually prefer to go to a morning party, since the afternoon ones often come at naptime for my kids, which is usually a total disaster. Some people may not show up right on time, but thats going to happen no matter what time of the day it is.
You may be overthinking the "sleeping in" idea. I haven't slept in in about 11 years. I am up at 7 no matter what. sigh.
I wouldn't raise my eyebrows at all. I actually like earlier birthday times because then my whole day isn't planned around an 11-2 birthday or something.
Besides, kids usually act their best right after they got up!
I say go for it.
I personally wouldn't be thrilled....and honestly I have never heard of a party that early. But seeing as how my kids are up no later then seven a.m. EVER, I would definitely take my child to the party.
For me, I would prefer it!!!
We could get up, get going to the party and be home by lunchtime and still have the rest of our Sat to ourselves........
But I get up every Sat morning anyway to get the kids to their dojo by 9am, so maybe that's just me????
Not trivial - good question!!!! Good idea to take a quick poll!
I would balk at a 9:30 invite, and agree with InMy30's that I would put the invite for 10, and use that extra half hour to set everything up. For pre-K children, I think an hour and a half is plenty of time for a party.
But yes...if I received that invite, as a parent...my first thoughts would be...seriously? I'm not even dressed yet on a Saturday!! Cake before lunch?
Sorry...I know the dilemma, I've been there. :) ;)
For me personally, I've never been to a birthday party that started earlier than 10 AM, and even that was ambitious. It would be hard for me to get out the door early enough for a 9:30 AM party, especially if it's just for a classmate and not a close friend.
I'm curious about what place this is that you think it's so much better that it's worth considering such an inconvenient time. If it's a really high interest venue, you may get a better turnout than you would otherwise. Obviously, people would be more likely to make the effort for a party at Disneyland than Chuck E. Cheese, for example. But if you're just talking the difference between one play place or another, I'd stick with one that has a more convenient time frame.
If I were you *I* would put the time as being 10am and use the extra 30mins to get set up at the place...that way no one balks at the early time?
10-11:30 is still plenty of time to play and do cake if your organized!
Our dear friends had the same predicament. The party was fun and everyone came but it was really odd to have it at 9:30. I personally to not feel like partying that early but the kids had a great time. My issue (besides the time) was the party ended at 11:30 and it was like great...now what?
I see a lot of "I" and "we want", regarding the party venue. What does your son want? He's 5, he probably doesn't really care where his party is, as long as all of his friends are there. Kids really don't really remember the details of the party, just who took the time to come, and the fun they had together. Can you do it somewhere else, with a more flexible time frame?
I wouldn't do a 9:30am party, just out of consideration to the potential attendees. Lots of activities/sports are during that time frame, also, so keep that in mind.That being said, DD is normally up around 6-6:30, so if we didn't already have something going on, and DD wanted to go, we would probably go to a party at 9:30am.
This is another reason we've forgone parties for the last 2 years and done trips instead. The whole RSVP lack of courtesy thing rampant in our society right now drives me nutty.
my honest answer would be that we would not attend. usually weekends are for family breakfast, late waking up and just starting the day slow as opposed to the combat battle that goes on on weekdays. :)
If it were a really good friend, I'd go. If it were just a classmate, I'd probably pass.
for us that would be too early. On saturdays we don't get up until around 8 or 830am and then we don't get dressed until 10:30ish. If it was for a really good friend or family, of course I would do it for them though. If it was someone I have never met in my kids class, I most likely wouldn't go.
We have attended parties that I though were at odd times or required a fair amount of travel time. Not a big deal here.
IME, "sleeping in" for parents of young kids is as elusive as Bigfoot!
Our Kindergartener is up by 7 am whether we want her to be or not, so a 9:30 time would be fine with us.
Most kids that age wake up early anyway. I'd probably groan but do it anyway.
We have been to a few 9 a.m. birthday parties and haven't thought too much of it. The hostesses were smart and had breakfast and breakfast snacks available (and let us know that on the invite), so we got up, got dressed and went to the party. I didn't have to worry about the hassle of feeding kiddos. Both parties were a lot of fun. And I thought it was nice to get up and get the party "over with" rather than trying to schedule the whole day around it. And just be prepared for and be ok with late arrivals.
I'd be fine with that timeframe and have actually attended parties that started by about 10 a.m. so no big deal for us.
I will caution you about inviting the entire class though. I am doing the same thing right now - the party for my 2 kids is next weekend and I have had a very low RSVP count. I am having to guesstimate to buy the food and stuff....very frustrating for sure.
I'd probably try to make it but likely would not. Saturday mornings are the only time I get to let the kids sleep in then we have a big breakfast. So not only is this too early for us, we really don't want to have cake and treats that early in the day.
If you altered the time to 10am though I think that sounds a bit better. You could take that extra 30 minutes to hang out and do final touches of stuff. An hour and a half for a party isn't too short.
I would be happy to go to an early party. My kids are up by 8am so it wouldn't be a problem for us.
While I like to sleep in on a Saturday morning and I might not sign my kids up for a weekly class at 9:30 on a Saturday morning I wouldn't have a problem getting up to take my kids to a party. I don't know too many kids who sleep past 8:00am any day of the week. If I was expected to stay at the party with my kids I might not go, but I would drop them off.
Kids get up early. Many kids that age still take afternoon naps, so you're better off having it in the morning.
I prefer it too. Some will balk, some not. I hate to say it: a lot of time effort depends on how much the child and parents are liked.
While the time is early because I usually work Friday nights, we would go. The only drawback is that my son has hockey practice at that time every Saturday. That may be one of the issues of attendance with other families. I would do what works for your family. 5 year old’s are usually up at that time anyways. Good luck!!!
I know I would love it that early! I am a morning person so it fits right in.
If I received such an invite, I would probably "raise my eyebrows" at the odd time. But it absolutely would NOT be a deciding factor.
My kids were always up and at it early on Saturday mornings anyways.
The only issue I would think might be an issue would be sports. Around here, nearly every kid has soccer on Saturday mornings. For my oldest, it probably wouldn't have been an issue. For my second, it might have conflicted with soccer for one or both kids. For my third, we could easily have had a game to attend for one of the three kids. Right now, we have volleyball 8-10am on Saturdays.
Good luck and have fun!
If this is what you want for your child, then do it. Personally, I'd prefer an early party. Go for it!
Those who have a problem won't be there.
LBC
I don't love getting up that early on Saturday for a party. But I have done it for my son's friend's party and I would do it for his good friends if we had to again. The advantage of that time is that the party is over early so it doesn't waste the day. Most 5 year olds are up early anyway and tend to be more focused in the morning so it's probably fine.
9:30 would totally work for us but I do see a problem with it interferring with sports, especially if they have older siblings. Both my kid's play sports and our Saturday's are totally consumed by whatever sport is going on at the time.
Good luck and Happy Birthday to your son!
Most of the moms I know would not make it out that early on a weekend. Even if you tell them 9:30 they will stumble on in around 10:00, 10:15, even 10:30...rarely does everyone show up at the designated party time.
I personally am an early bird every morning, even weekends, and would be there. A lot of people stay up late and let the kids stay up late on Fridays and then sleep in Saturday and Sunday.
I used to plan a great deal of moms group events, years and years of doing this...and in my experience...even on weekdays a lot of the parents would show up late for those events and parties too even if I made the 10:00 am start time. It's just hard to get out the door, I totally understand that.
And on weekends they sleep in too, go out to breakfast or like to laze around a little, etc. Good luck.
I personally would go with 11 to 1:00 for a party slow or else 1 to 3:00. Even 3:00 to 5:00 is good a lot of times and then you wouldn't have to serve lunch...Lately all the parties we attend are 1 pm ones. Hope that helps!
I would ask the attendees you have in mind and get their input, might as well ask them and then will give you an honest answer so you don't waste your money. Hopefully you have gotten to know most of these parents that you are inviting....
It would very much depend on whether my child REALLY wanted to go or only kinda wanted to go. If the b'day child wasn't a good friend, we'd probably skip it (I DO like my Saturday morning sleep-ins). But if the child was a good friend, we'd attend a 7am party!
I'd be totally fine taking my five year old to a 9:30 party. 10:00 is a very typical start time for the parties we have and those we are invited to, so thirty minutes earlier is no big deal.
LOL, I just HAD to answer this one!! Honestly, do YOU get to sleep in on a SAturday?? LUCKY LADY!!! LOL! Seriously, I would have NO problem with the time. Go for it! Have fun!!
