Should Party bags be banned?

Is there something outdated about sending kids home from a party with a bag full of junk food and cheap plastic toys? One mum says yes, one mum says no. Where do you stand?

Dump the bags, they’re over – by Holly Wainwright.

Okay. Deep breath. This opinion is not going to make me popular. My friends may disown me and my poor children would leave home if they could, in fact, read. But, seriously, it’s time to get rid of party bags.

Because, do you know what most parents I know need? More crap in their house.

More tiny little toys that don't have any logical place to live. More small pointy things to step on with bare feet in the middle of the night. More pointless, newly beloved items that will be lost or broken and leave a child bereft.

Do you know what most of the kids I know need more of? Sugar.

Especially after a party, when they've been eating it solidly for hours. More sugar is definitely what they need. Even the knowledge of sugar is helpful. Because you're not going to let them have the sugar, but they know it's there. That always goes well.

And do you know what else all the busy mothers I know need? Something else to do.

They're already stressing - stressing about whether or not to invite the whole class, baking a cake, cleaning the house, preparing party food that suits everyone, worrying about whether they've booked entertainment, the right entertainment... Now they've got to stay up all night stuffing tastefully chosen party bags with teeny-tiny toys and sugary treats.

The way my daughter starts talking about the party bag on the way to the party, and even goes up to the host(ess) and asks for it before the end of the party makes me itchy. Why does she think she deserves a gift just for turning up to let her friend know that she cares about his special day?

No. I'm calling it. Party bags have had their day. Your kids' reward for coming to a party is a good time with their friends and a sugar-high that starts to wear off at the front door. That's it.

Party bags rule. It's not about you, Mum - by Shauna Anderson.

What’s happened to the world when we deny a small child their right to a plastic bag filled with sugar and soon-to-break-toys?

From where comes the motivation to disappoint those sticky little fists holding out their hands waiting in anticipation for their bag of loot?

Sure, I can understand the reason that PARENTS don’t want lolly bags but since when are children’s birthday parties about the parents?

It’s about the kid.

A party without a lolly bag is like Christmas dinner without the turkey. To those who want to deny these little folk their dose of plastic and preservatives I say Back off, Party-Scrooge.

Just as the inevitable sugar-rush of cake, cheezels and juice is about to wear off, just as the last balloon floats towards the sky and pin-the-tail on the donkey flops limply down the wall, a party needs one final peak, one last moment to look forward to.

Do you want to be the parent to disappoint 16 desperate five-year olds?

Do you want to be the Mum known for what was missing?

Come on Mums, it's a party.

Why are we so afraid of letting our kids indulge occasionally? I worry it is because as parents we are too weak, too self involved and too busy to say no to treats at home.  That we feel our children’s lives are so inundated with over indulgence that a party bag with lollies and toys will tip the balance.

 Why can’t we keep it simple and still keep the childhood dream alive?

Too many naysayers condemn the magic that makes childhood special.

What we need to do as parents is set boundaries and limits in our own homes so that special occasions such as birthdays can still retain their uniqueness.

We need to teach our kids that its okay to have a lolly bag, but that there are expectations that come along with it.

(Brush your teeth little ones, and when we say enough is enough then we mean it.)

Lighten up, Mums. And just remember, if you come to my kid’s party your child WILL walk away with not just half a dozen brightly coloured sweets but maybe a whistle and a soon-to-spill bottle of bubbles as well.

 What do you think? Party bags yes or no?