Birthday party etiquette

LOL - I am already budgeting f'tor those parties once they start making their own friends My niece turned 4 in September and she rattled off a list of 30 friends that she wanted to invite!!!!! Her mom did it and all the parents obviously came I must say that I would be a bit shocked if anyone just dropped their child off at party at 4 or 5 yrs old or younger!

That is why we do two parties. One at the school for all the school friends and then one at home for all our friends who have kids Dylan's age. This year we will have the party in the afternoon and the parents who are close friends can stay on for a braai which then become our party. We have chosen not to serve alcohol from 3-5.30 though and will just serve sarmies and cake with juice.

At age 2 the kids are not really good friends yet so I am sure in a year or two I will be having the whole class over to my house.

Party Venues are really awesome too.

Thanks RM - I never thought of it that way... I see... I cant see myself dropping a 5 year old at some ones house without me! I guess this is why a creche party, or even party venue, works out better sometimes.

I will live and learn as I go along...

MommyN - When kids are small, probably under 6 parents would be expected to accompany them to the party.

When my son was in grade 1, I went along to a party as I did not know the mom, and I definitely was made to feel "not welcome" - but I also did not want to let my child go along to a party that was not well supervised, so I opted to ignore the slight and planted myself firmly in the corner.

I eventually left for a bit, when I felt that odds are he would walk away with a broken arm, but probably would not die.

My daughter is 5 and she is still goes to party and I accompany her, however that being said she is going in December to a party and I know the mom really well - so she will actually go to that one without me.

My son is 8 and I now drop him off at parties without me having to go.

Unfortunately when your kids are little and you do throw a party, it is to be expected that one or two parents will arrive, and you need to cater for them.

It does make parties for little people really expensive!

I think that some parents do expect a gift when they send a invite. it is as if they mean "I am doing the effort to send party packs and cake my child can at least receive a gift"
I do not give gifts for parties at school. My child is going to be there anyway. I do however give a present for a home party.
there was this one time that I did send a small present but it was because it was a real friend of my child's and she asked for it LOL.

I was told just before Missy turned one, that you add one to your child's age. This is the amount of children your child can actually appreciate... ie, 1st birthday, your LO can enjoy 2 kids, turning 5, she can enjoy 6 children. But I am not sure when this stops...

I personally think until big school, they can have a "school" party and then you end up having family and friends over at home and it turns into a big party anyway!

I am just disappointed at how many parties are actually for the adults!

What is the norm? Until whe do you invite the mommies, until about 3 or 4? I understand before that, but at 5 or 6 to still be ctering for every mommy will be costing a bomb!

But I am still new at this all... I hope we are not losing sight of what a birthday party is about - celebrating the LO's birth date and not about who gets what - both to eat and as in gift!

Claudia_B wrote:

I'm butting in out of curiosity... Why send invitations to a party when at school? Surely school implies that the kids are there for a reason (parents working, social interaction, education) and you cant rsvp no because the party is part of the school day???

In my mind an invitation is sent out when you want people to come for something different from routine - ie a party on the weekend, a wedding etc...

Also do some schools allow outside family members to come to the parties??? I think I might have an issue with the school then. What guarantee do I have that "uncle joe" isnt someone who gets off on kids?