Do your kids go to all the classmate birthday parties that they're invited to?

[BWVDenise]

I don't know if I'm in a bad mood or what, but it just feels wrong to me. I have no problem with them going to a FRIEND'S birthday party, but just because they are in the same class? There are too many of them to do that! Do you automatically send your kids to birthday parties for classmates, or do you limit it to friends?

 

[binny]

It just depends, if theyre just casual probably not. We're too busy to attend all of those unfortunately.

If theyre friends, or someone they want to be better friends with then I make a real effort to go but otherwise I dunno Im with you.

 

[Kimberle]

Unless were busy, Brittany goes to the parties to which she is invited. We are honored when people invite us to parties.

If you don't want your child to go, then by all means don't take him/her. As long as your rsvp that you are unable to attend, the host's will understand.

 

[ZuZugal]

I ask my child. If it is an important friend, the answer is usually yes. I just don't know how people put on big parties and invite absolutely everyone. We just invite close family and friends. These days kids already have so much of everything, those big parties are just too over the top.

 

[ryka]

My daughter is always invited to parties for kids in her class and we have never gone to one. They always seem to be to far away. It was in the same town we live in then I would take her.

 

[Stacerita]

We are extremely busy so we aren't always able to attend all the parties the sweetpea is invited to. We do talk about each invite and discuss if its possible to attend or not. I always rsvp if we are going or not. There just isn't enough time to go to every party she is invited to. We can't even attend all the family and close friends parties either.

 

[Beth76]

Yes. My son has attended every birthday party he's been invited to this year (even just classmates). We've only ever had to decline 2 or 3 because of previous engagements. We invited his whole class to his party too. Almost everyone came. I would rearrange my schedule to send my son to a party if I needed to. Party invites are at the top of our priority list. I would hate it if kids didn't come to our birthday parties just because they've had enough. That said, my son is in Pre-K with only 14 kids in his class. I'm not sure how I'll feel when he has 20+ kids in his class.

 

[Fan2CSkr]

When my kids first started school it seemed the invitations were sent to all in the class. As the kids got older the invites are now sent to those they are friends with. They love parties and attend all we are around for.

 

[dvcfamily41801]

This was my sons first year at his new school and we did not go to any of the birthday parties we were invited to. The first one was only a week or so into school and we did not know any of the children. The others that have come along we just were not able to go to that day. Also, we did not invite any of the children from his class to his birthday party. We had a nice group with just our friends outside of school.

 

[DaisyD]

I always let my kids decide whether they wanted to go to the parties. It wasn't up to me. Most times they did but there were times when they would rather not so it was fine with me.

 

[Evil Queen]

I let my attend all, as long as we don't have plans in advance.

I think it's a great way for better friendships to form. I've also met a few good friends this way too, by meeting the parents.

 

[aprilgail2]

As long as we have nothing else going on she goes to all that she is invited to. She not only gets invited to the ones form school but also all the kids from girl scouts parties, a few kids from karate and then kids she still is in touch with and plays with from preschool...so we go to many parties a year! I recently cut down on the gifts though, I was spending 20.00 a gift but I try to keep it under 15.00 now. For her party she no longer invites all the kids in her class...I have all their addresses so I mail out to the ones she wants to invite. I can't afford to invite the whole class, girl scout troop, outside friends and kids from karate. PLUS I can't handle the amount of gifts that she gets from them! Her birthday is in Nov and Christmas is soon after that! This past year she picked 5 toys to donate to a toy drive we volunteer for and I am hoping this year it will be double that she donates. I tried to get her to throw a party and have the invite say that she is collecting toys to donate and not to buy her any but she is 6 so she really isn't going for that yet..hopefully in the next year or so.

 

[powellrj]

we are doing party invatations today. She is inviting her whole class plus a few neighborhood kids. I don't expect 1/2 of them to show up. I know how busy everyone is, but I hate the thought of leaving anyone out. I don't invite them expecting gifts, I just would hate to have a party and have hurt feeling by excluding anyone. She is going to be 10 and this will be our last big bash.

 

[ktpool]

I let my attend all, as long as we don't have plans in advance.

I think it's a great way for better friendships to form. I've also met a few good friends this way too, by meeting the parents.

ITA. It is a great way for me to meet their friends and parents, check out the other's house, etc (for future sleepover reference). If we don't have pressing plans, they go. I make arrangements for pick up/drop off, etc.

They get to build friendships outside fo school. I don't really understand why parents don't let their kid's attend birthday parties as a rule. I think it is a very important part of their socialization.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

no he doesnt go to everyone

 

[Beth76]

This was my sons first year at his new school and we did not go to any of the birthday parties we were invited to. The first one was only a week or so into school and we did not know any of the children.

Going to the party would have been a great way to become friends with the other kids. A boy started my son's class just 2 weeks before his party and we invited him. He came and had a great time with all his new friends.

 

[MissMinnie]

In my kids' school, the rule is if you are sending invites into school to be distributed, all kids in the class have to be invited in order to avoid hurt feelings. If you only want to invite certain classmates, it has to be done outside of school. I realize that this can be a burden to the parents doing the invite, but it does seem to work well for the kids. This is the reason my kids receive a lot of their invites. If the parent doesn't want to invite the whole class, they usually find me after I drop off my kids or ask the teacher for my phone number who then in turn will ask my permission to give it out. A lot of work for everyone, but the kids benefit by not feeling left out. My kids are small, so I guess this will change as they get older and invites will be handled differently. l choose which parties they go to or say ok to the ones my kids really want to attend.

 

[lulugirl]

I'm always happy when Dd is invited to a party, we usually go.
Dd is in kindergarten, so she's at the age where she is invited for playdates w/ out me, so I really like getting to know these parents and birthday parties are a good opportunity for that.

 

[va32h]

In my kids' school, the rule is if you are sending invites into school to be distributed, all kids in the class have to be invited in order to avoid hurt feelings.

This is what I was going to say. If your child receives an invitation from every kid in class, the school rule is probably that every child in the class must get one!

I sent out 22 invitations for my son's party. Nine kids came, which is about what I expected. They were the kids whom my son talked about the most as his school friends.

One little girl said she couldn't come to my son's party, because her mom didn't know me. I said that if she and her mom both came to the party, they would get to know me! And they did come, fortunately, and the mom is very nice, and mentioned that she wished she had come to other class parties, as perhaps her daughter would have more friends to play with this summer.

 

[PaulaSue]

Our school and preschool have the same rules.

My DDs love to go to all the parties they are invited to and if we are not busy they go. Ditto, it is a great way to get to know the other parents, especially of the school aged friends.