Dear Prudence,
How do I make it clear that a child’s birthday party is only for children?
My daughter recently celebrated her eighth birthday, and we had a small get-together at home with some kids’ entertainment. When I say small, I mean four kids were invited. I made it clear in my invitation that this was a drop off event (bring your child at this time and pick him up at this time). (For the record, all these kids have been at our house many times before, without parents, so that is not the issue.) One mom called to ask questions about the party and then said that she would be staying for it. I reassured her that she didn’t need to but she insisted. The day of the party both mom and dad showed up! They proceeded to stay for most of the event even though it looked totally ridiculous to have these grownups around for a child’s party.
Eventually, I convinced them to go home and told them to pick up their child at such-and-such a time. When the time came for pick up they texted to say they were out to dinner and would be a little late. This doubly infuriated me: once for inviting themselves and twice for being late to pick up. I don’t want this to happen again. How do I make this clear next time? Am I overreacting?
— You Are Not Invited