Parents... A guide on how to make your home party-proof |
Everybody groaned. Everybody had a horror story.
As we sat at the café table, our festively patterned Christmas shopping bags piled up around us, the talk had somehow turned to house parties.
Someone recalled a 21st for which the young host unthinkingly sent out invitations through Facebook. The uninvited arrived late and rough, pushing their way in, hefting crates of drink. They shoved their fists in the birthday cake, rubbed sponge and cream on each other’s faces, threw the finger-food around, and started fighting.
One of those around the table was a mother of three adults. Over the years, she said, she had developed a successful strategy for managing the cascade of Sweet 16ths, 18ths, 21st bashes and so on that confronted her as her family grew, and passed into second-level education, college, and beyond.
Her tried and tested house-party strategy, she explained, arose from a useful mix of personal experiences as a carousing university student in Dublin, and a long and successful career in the hospitality industry here and abroad.
“Tell us now,” we said, mouths agape.
Our friend outlined her Parent’s Guide to Party-Proofing, which I faithfully replicate here.
Notes:
(a) Never assume your child does not drink alcohol.
(b) Before agreeing to host a house party, clearly and firmly outline your non-negotiable rules.
The Rules:
(1) Invitations.
No strangers or undesirables are invited. Invitations must be issued........