late afternoon b'day party ~ do I need to serve dinner?

[cepmom]

I am having DD's birthday party this Saturday. It is going to be at a school nearby from 3:45 - 5:45. It is run by the town recreation dept and they play all kinds of games with the kids, we'll have a pinata and cake and ice cream. Now I'm starting to wonder if I should serve dinner food, like pizza because of the time. My original thought was games and cake/ice cream only. We only have 2 hours and sometime pizza and cake/ice cream takes up too much time. Thoughts?

 

[Maleficent13]

I wouldn't feel the need to. Plenty of time for people to eat before and after.

 

[bananiem]

I wouldn't. Cake and ice cream, then send 'em home.

 

[poohluvrs]

Cake & ice cream sound perfect. Your party hours aren't exactly dinner hours anyway. Have fun!

 

[cepmom]

awesome~ thank you. DH and DD17 were making me feel bad about not serving pizza. Now I don't feel so bad

 

[ZuZugal]

Maybe you can also have 2 big bowls of salty snacks as well as the cake and ice cream. Some people just cannot handle that much sugar at once, esp. if they haven't eaten since lunch.

Not much more of an expense this way, and you won't need additional time to serve it. Maybe a Chex mix or Gardettos.

Have fun!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I would personally, but that is because party=food, esp. one in the late afternoon.

 

[dcgrumpy]

I would specify cake and ice cream on the invitation. At that hour I would expect a slice of pizza or a hot dog was being served and not feed my kids beforehand.

 

[SC Minnie]

I would also have some other snack type stuff just in case the kids are hungry.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Well, I have to be dissenting voice here.

If I were holding a party at the 5:00 dinner hour, then I would feel that food would/should be served.

To me, not a good idea to get hungry kids all filled up, and hyped up, on sugar, cake, ice cream, etc... right before mealtime.

At mid-afternoon, after lunch, like at 2:30, then just cake is the way to go. But, at 5:00, serve some food.

 

[mickeyboat]

That is dinner hour for our family, so I might expect there would be food other than cake at the party. Not that pizza is really a healthy dinner, but I would probably get kids home after the party who would be too full to eat dinner that night.

Denae

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I would specify cake and ice cream on the invitation. At that hour I would expect a slice of pizza or a hot dog was being served and not feed my kids beforehand.

Agreed....I would also expect you are feeding my kid, so please state that it is only ice cream and cake being served, so the parents understand.

 

[wilderness01]

3:45 - 5:45

That is dinner time. Especially on Sunday, I know many families that eat between 4:30 pm and 6 pm. By the time they get back to their homes it will easily be 6 or close to it/close after it. I think you should provide either pizza or hotdogs. You can wrap the hotdogs in tinfoil like they do at the ballpark. Kids like that and I have seen that at parties. Skip the ice cream and give them a cupcake or piece of cake, that way you are avoiding more sugar. I actually think it is not right to not serve some sort of dinner when it is clearly a dinner hour. If the party was from 2 to say 4 then maybe you could get away with not, but not at those hours. Sorry to disagree with many on here, but I agree with your husband. Good luck and have fun.

 

[cepmom]

I did put on the invitation "cake and ice cream" so there wouldn't any confusion, I was just rethinking it after DH and DD said something. Dinner hour for us is after 6:00, but I do realize that for others it may be earlier than that. If it were my DD going to a party from 3:45 - 5:45 on a Saturday, she would have had lunch way earlier, like around 12:00 - 1:00, then as I said dinner after 6:00 especially on a Saturday evening. Maybe I can serve the cake and ice cream earlier in the party instead of right at the end, before they go home for dinner. That way they won't be full from dessert before they eat dinner?

Older DD went to the same party last year but from 6:00 - 8:00 and no dinner was served then.

 

[Beth76]

That's kind of an awkward time because it cuts into the beginning of "dinner time". But it's not really enough time to start serving food at a reasonable time and finish by the time the party's over. I think you could go either way, but you need to specify on the invitation that only cake will be served.

 

[wilderness01]

Oops, I thought I read it was on a Sunday. I don't have my contacts in yet. Maybe you have a little more leeway since it is a Saturday and on Saturday we do tend to eat later, but I really still feel you should serve some sort of food. Even if you just have a tray of fruit, a tray of cheese/crackers and quarter squares of peanut butter/jelly or bologna/cheese. The party that your child attended that was from 6 to 8 and didn't have food was both rude and cheap.

 

[cepmom]

Oops, I thought I read it was on a Sunday. I don't have my contacts in yet. Maybe you have a little more leeway since it is a Saturday and on Saturday we do tend to eat later, but I really still feel you should serve some sort of food. Even if you just have a tray of fruit, a tray of cheese/crackers and quarter squares of peanut butter/jelly or bologna/cheese. The party that your child attended that was from 6 to 8 and didn't have food was both rude and cheap.

well, they had food (chex mix and cake/ice cream) butno dinner. We knew ahead of time there would be no dinner food, so DD ate before she went.

I'll have some kind of snack food, the fruit is a good idea! Maybe I can make fruit kabobs...I think the kids will like that.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Dinner hour for us is after 6:00.

1. So, you still think it is a good idea to stuff kids with cake and ice cream and candy one hour before supper?????

2. Many eat dinner at 5:00 - 5:30 YOUR dinner hour is not what you need to go by, it is just common guidelines... To most, 4:00 - 6:00 is considered family mealtime.


I still have to wonder why you are having such a problem with offering some type of food????

Edited to add after seeing your post just come in... Given the cake and ice cream... Fruit is just another non-filling high sugar offering.

If you are locked into the 5:00 timeframe, serve food.

 

[cepmom]

1. So, you still think it is a good idea to stuff kids with cake and ice cream and candy one hour before supper?????

2. Many eat dinner at 5:00 - 5:30 YOUR dinner hour is not what you need to go by, it is just common guidelines... To most, 4:00 - 6:00 is considered family mealtime.


I still have to wonder why you are having such a problem with offering some type of food????

Edited to add after seeing your post just come in... Given the cake and ice cream... Fruit is just another non-filling high sugar offering.

If you are locked into the 5:00 timeframe, serve food.

first ~ I never said I thought it was a good idea to stuff kids with cake, ice cream and candy one hour before dinner. If you read further I said perhaps I could serve cake/ice cream earlier in the party so they won't have eaten right before the go home for dinner. I never said I was serving candy.

second ~ I also said that while our dinner time is after 6:00 I do realize that for some people it is earlier hence the reason for this thread

third ~ I never said I had a problem serving food. I had said that I thought pizza and cake/ice cream could take up a lot of time when we only have 2 hours. I thought the fruit suggestion was good.....fruit is a "non-filling, high sugar offering"? Pizza or hot dogs are a heathier choice?

 

[ZuZugal]

Wow cepmom.........I'll bet you are glad you aren't inviting any Disers to the party!!

Not serving "real food" at the party isn't going to stunt anyone's growth. If you put cake and ice cream on the invite, go with it (along with fruit or some other snack if you so choose.)

Have fun! I'm sure the kids will.