My wife and I are starting to do more parties at our house. Mostly it’s adults only, sometimes under-age kids. I enjoy cooking so supplying food is not the issue. I find that most adults will bring a sufficient quantity of their prefered beverage. We will provide enough beer/wine/soda/etc for our needs plus a little extra just in case.
I never know what to do about kids, though. Some parents are very strict at what they will let their under-age kids drink (i.e. no sugar, caffiene, etc). We will often get a 2 liter bottle of soda just to say we have something, but it seems to me that if you want your kids to drink a specific thing, then they should bring it with them–just as they do their own beverages.
So, what is your policy on BYOB in general and, specifically, if you know children will be there? Thanks as always!
I usually grab a juice of some sort if there will be children over. Usually cranberry because it has a bit less sugars than the others, and most kids seem to like it ok. In addition I’ll brew iced tea - I usually use a rooibos as it’s kind of sweet without having to add any sugar and many adults like it as well.
I think if parents have a very specific set of drink needs for their children that can’t be solved by them drinking water, I think they’re responsible to bring their own beverage.
Personally, I would see it as my responsibility to provide all food and all non-alcoholic drinks for guests of any age. I would have non-caffeinated, no-sugar-added drinks on hand. And I would find it odd, at best, for a child, or a child’s parent, to insist on anything else. There’s always water.
Personally, we do not drink the kinds of drinks kids are likely to want. We provide a full bar, mixers, beer, food, since anything leftover will get used. If anyone brings kids, we explain that they are on their own.
We have kids, so there’s always milk and water in the house. For parties, I pick up a jug of some sort of juice - often grape - and offer “spritzers” to the kids. They think it’s a blast to mix juice and seltzer and make their own “pop”, and since it’s generally only about 25% juice, there’s no caffeine, far less sugar and yet no artificial sweeteners are needed. So that takes care of the health food nuts while making the kids part of the Special Occasion.
But yes, if you or your child have a very specific dietary need, then please discuss it with me beforehand or bring your own. My own daughter is gluten intolerant, and so I always bring a gluten free cupcake and a few snacks, just in case, although there is often enough food that she can eat anyhow. Still, it’s my responsibility to feed and water my child safely, whether she’s under my roof or yours.
If I were hosting a gathering, I would plan to provide drinks for everyone. I also wouldn’t take a beverage to someone else’s house. That just sounds weird. I’d certainly bring a bottle of wine or something, but it would go into the general kitty; I wouldn’t just drink it myself. Anyway, just get some juice boxes. They’re not particularly expensive, they don’t need to be refrigerated, they last forever, and you’ll have something to offer the kids.
My hosting consists mostly of having people over to watch football. I tell everyone there is beer and munchies and anything else they want they should bring.
Everyone who comes also knows that I have hard liquor and that they can help themselves, but since I live in the sticks, no one really drinks much when they come.
I don’t drink beer so me buying beer for parties is always a disaster. I buy too much and give the extra away, or just don’t buy the right kind.
I do keep a stock of canned “party pop” for my guests. I drink diet pop, so the stuff with sugar is for everyone else (and I do provide diet too). Cans are so much better than bottles because there’s no leftovers to go bad.
I’ve started making instant-brew iced tea and lemonade for parties. The tea I made last time was a big hit. Some sort of peach stuff.
I always have as much bottled water as I do canned pop.
I’m starting to do kids’ parties this summer (my friends all have kids now) but the kids still aren’t old enough to drink what I’m serving, so I haven’t had to cross that bridge yet. I suspect I will just keep up with the pop and lemonade until someone tells me to stop.
We always have nonalcoholic drinks on hand; if nothing else, milk and orange juice are standard in our fridge. For nondrinkers and kids who aren’t allowed to drink pop, or more than one glass of it (and if there’s pop in the house for an event, there’s always at least one caffeine-free choice), there’s generally also another kind of juice or two in a big bottle in the pantry. If I know there will be a bunch of kids, I try to make some other more interesting alcohol- and caffeine-free choice available (lemonade in summer, or hot cider for a caroling party, for example). And we have a ton of herbal tea. I generally know what my friends’ kids’ dietary issues are and shop accordingly depending on who is going to be coming over.
The last few times I’ve had pop available for parties, though, nobody drank it. Half the time I end up giving away full 2-liter bottles, because we just don’t drink pop, and otherwise it will sit around until it goes flat.
P.S. For adults who drink, we always have a few bottles of wine in the house, and a truly random collection of hard liquor – and at least some people will generally bring a six-pack or a bottle of wine. It works fine most of the time, except that there is inevitably a random white-wine drinker among the masses of red-wine drinkers, and then we end up with cooking wine. I don’t drink beer, so I leave the selection up to **Tom Scud, **who is going to be stuck drinking the leftovers anyway. And then there’s that truly evil Martha Stewart eggnog recipe…
We typically supply sodas, water, a beer tub, and free access to our bar, then if there’s something specific people want they are welcome to bring it. If kids are coming, I usually make some sugar-free Koolaid or similar, usually lemonade or cherry since those are my favorite flavors and leftovers will readily be drunk.
We always do beer and wine for those drinking alcohol; always a pitcher of lemonade (it’s in the fridge everyday anyway) and iced tea, and usually a cooler with Capri Suns and mini water bottles. We don’t do soda/pop, but you’re welcome to bring it. If you leave it, we toss it.
Adults: it is polite to bring a bottle of wine or some beer if you are a drinker. Something you like that the host might like as well.
Kids: If I’m hosting I would have some soda and maybe juice if I thought there might be a lot of kids there. I wouldn’t try to stock every beverage in the store on the of chance that somebody might be fussy. If I had any restrictions on what my kids could drink then it would be up to me to bring something that they were allowed, just to be sure.