Kids Bringing Friends

[skiwee1]

Whenever we let our kids invite friends we paid for everything as we are "inviting" them. I would never expect my guests to pay anything. The only thing the kids had to pay for were souveniers. When we take a friend for DS skiing with us we pay for another room just for him and a friend, all ski equipment if needed, food, lift tickets, hotel, and anything else that comes along. If I couldn't afford it then I wouldn't invite anyone else.

 

[Kallison]

If I were inviting friends I would expect to pay for everything except maybe souveneirs.

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by Kallison
If I were inviting friends I would expect to pay for everything except maybe souveneirs.

exactly how I think of it...if I am inviting someone then I will also be paying for them....it would be nice if they brought spending money but everything else I would expect the inviter to be picking up.

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by aprilgail2
exactly how I think of it...if I am inviting someone then I will also be paying for them....it would be nice if they brought spending money but everything else I would expect the inviter to be picking up.

I am glad I'm not the only one that does this. I liken it to inviting guests to dinner and then charging them for the meal.

 

[debloco]

I know I'm going to sound like the old-fashioned Miss Manners prude/killjoy/wet blanket, but...I believe that if you invite, you pay. This issue came up on the boards earlier this year and I was not the only one who posted with this view. I described that we have brought friends for my DD twice. Once for a weekend trip in October and then a different friend for the 7 day Western cruise for Spring Break this March. We paid for air, hotel (or stateroom), food, excursions on the cruise, etc. The only thing the friends paid for was souviners. There was some debate regarding the differences in costs between different kinds/lengths of trips, and my point is that while the weekend trip cost signifigantly less that the cruise, the principle still holds true, you invite, you pay. The OP of the thread I replied to had some issues with the family backing out of a trip that had already been planned, booked and mostly paid for. Others posted that they had some problems with the friend(s) brought on the trip, and might not do so again. I do believe that you need to be careful about who in invite-how much time have your child and the friend spendt together? What are their parents like and how well do you know them and their values? Are those values compatabile with yours? The right friend from the right family can really be a wonderful addition to a trip.

CLC Tiger Pom Mom

 

[shortbun]

I was reading this post thinking,"If I ask a child to go with us
for company for DS, I'd expect to pay for everything."
Hey, if they brought spending money, great. If their parents
ask about helping, I'd say I was prepared to pay. If they
insisted, I'd tell them how much admission tickets were and
still expect to pay for everything else. When a child is your
"guest", I think you pay. If your adult child says, "Mom, X wants
to come with us", the answer from me would be that they
were expected to pay their own way but were welcome. If I
do the asking, X is my guest.

 

[anne1125]

We pay for everything except "spending money". After all, it's an invitation.

 

[CyranoJones]

We've invited DD's friends on trips to WDW and other places many times and have paid for all essentials, i.e., airfare, room, tix, food.

 

[dannyb]

We are allowing each of our kids to bring a friend on our next trip. It will be quite an added expense of DVC points, because we will need to get a 2BR instead of a 1BR. Tickets, meals, WOW!

It was my plan to be prepared to pay for everything (except souveigneers) - - I agree with the posters who say that if you invite someone, then you are their host.

At the same time, however, I am prepared to gratefully accept all offers of assistance from the friends' parents. When they offer, we'll state that we had invited them and were expecting to pay for everything, but that is the extent of the resistance that we'll put up. I do know that if my kids were invited on such a trip, I'd certainly insist on contributing at least enough to cover park admission plus a few hundred for meals and incidentals.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Originally posted by skiwee1
Whenever we let our kids invite friends we paid for everything as we are "inviting" them. I would never expect my guests to pay anything. The only thing the kids had to pay for were souveniers. When we take a friend for DS skiing with us we pay for another room just for him and a friend, all ski equipment if needed, food, lift tickets, hotel, and anything else that comes along. If I couldn't afford it then I wouldn't invite anyone else.

Skiwee1, Can I be your friend--I don't live far!

This is an interesting thread. My children have never invited friends, but I think that maybe out spring break trip might have gone better if my 16yo daughter had of had a friend with her. Of course then my middle two kids would have been mad. Can't win. My youngest is 6 years younger than his next oldest brother, though, and I bet that when he's older we'll be bringing friends for him.

T&B

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

Folks are brought up different ways.

For smaller things, if I invite the child, I'll pay. Bigger things, I fully expect them to be able to pay for their own admission pass. This is what we did last year. DD's friend bought her park hopper and soem money for souveneirs. We paid for everything else. I thought that was fair and very generous.