kid bday party scheduling

[meems]

Last week in kindergarten, my daughter Lily found out that one of her classmates was having a birthday party this past Sunday but Lily didn't get invited. She was very disappointed by that and I kept telling her that maybe it was just a small party and sometimes it is hard to invite a lot of kids. And Lily is very quiet at school and, as far as I can tell, not particularly chummy with anyone.

Today the birthday party girl tells Lily, "I'm sorry I didn't invite you to my party." So now Lily is all tortured about that. She wants to know -- Did the girl forget to invite her? (not likely) Or was she just not able to for whatever reason.

(ETA: I know kindergartners have a hard time knowing what they shouldn't talk about LOL.)

Poor Lily she keeps asking me about it.

OK that's not the point of this post. Just wanted to get that off my chese. Anyway, my real question is -- Would scheduling a birthday party the Saturday before Spring Break result in lower attendance? Lily now wants to have a party. Her birthday is 3/20 and is the weekend before spring break. I'm thinking people might be heading out of town and such?

Would it be weird to have her party two weeks after her birthday? We can't do the weekend after (3/27-28) at all.

How far in advance do you give out invites?

thx!

 

[crazygirl]

awwww
poor little lily.
that's why i don't allow my kids to pass out invites at school
i usually mail them.

it does get easier/better the older they get
but i'm sure feelings still get hurt a bit.

Lars birthday is december 13. and sometimes we have a full house and other times not.
(for 2 years we did a swim party at an indoor pool and all the kids came, those years were packed!)
this year we did a fun party at home
and only 2 kids came... you just never know.

i could easily see justifying doing the party 2 weeks early.
you want a good turn out
so lily can forget all about that silly party she wasn't part of.

good luck!

 

[Lisa Carroll]

Poor thing. I am sure there was a good reason, but it sure is hard for them to understand at that age. I always invite the whole class for that very reason.

For your party - I think 2 weeks after her birthday is fine. I wouldn't worry about it. I don't know if attendance would be down or not, but why not wait. It will give her more to celebrate anyway, like having two birthdays. I usually try to send out the invitations 2 weeks in advance.

 

[estir_bune]

Moo's birthday is 11/17... we have issues with the Thanksgiving holiday.

This past birthday, she wanted a slumber party so she was able to invite 2 school friends and her cousin. Maybe that is what happened to Lily? Maybe the birthday girl had a minimum capacity.

I mailed my invites (I asked her teacher for the addresses) 2 weeks in advance. I asked for RSVP and those that hadn't RSVP a few days prior, I phoned to confirm.

If you lived closer, we'd invite your little Lily for a play date! Moo's in kindergarden too!

 

[meems]

I am getting stressed by this whole party thing. Lily actually never wanted to have a party with friends until she found out about this girl's party. And come to think of it, another girl also had a party before that Lily wasn't invited to. I had been cheerily going along in life thinking that all I had to was make sure Lily had cake and presents at home. Now I feel time pressured b/c her birthday is only 19 days away.

I think they can't hand out invites at school unless the whole class is invited but I think kids talk about it anyway.

I actually would prefer that Lily invite her whole class but she doesn't want to. Too many kids for her.

I just realized that April 3 is between Good Friday and Easter. I wonder if that matters.

 

[carolee]

I think you might have problems with attendance if you choose any of the Spring Break weekends or Easter weekend. I like to receive invitations 2 weeks ahead of time. Any more time and it's almost too early that it slips my mind.

I'm so sorry she had her feelings hurt, I know that as much as you hope kids won't talk about these things that they do it anyway. We do not invite everyone in the class. I find that my boys want some kids from their current class, some from last year, some from their activities, it is varied. I prefer to keep the size to 20 kids or less. And most of the parties that go on around here are at some sort of venue, and are either all boys, or all girls.

I hope you can figure out a good solution! I wouldn't worry about inviting the whole class and would go with who she wants.

 

[crazygirl]

my son
(11)
i printed off 15 invites for him....

and he can only think of 3 boys to invite.

grrrrrrrrr.
i mean.
that's fine and all.
but.....
i printed ALL those out!
LOL

oh, and none of these boys are in his class.
or EVEN his school!
LOL
they are friends from church
and football
and his old school.

jeesh.

i printed off 15 invites for jenna as well.
and ofcourse she wants to invite
the WHOLE WORLD!

every single person from her class at school
and church
and all those she meets on the street!

ROFL

 

[meems]

uh, Jacque, you didn't ask first before printing?

I need to convince my daughter she doesn't want a birthday party ....

 

[dna13]

My DS' b'day is 3rd April and since that is Easter weekend, we have decided to have his party 2 weeks after as we're busy the week after and it's school holidays before that (He is also in kindergarten). We will only be inviting 8 or so kids as it's just too many with more. Especially since the parents will be hanging around while the party is on.

 

[Kristine]

I don't think it's wierd to have it two weeks after at all, and I think probably more people would be able to come if you have it after the break. Kaja's birthday is in the middle of the summer holidays, and we always have her party either before school finishes or after it starts again. Everyone else whose birthday is in the summer do the same thing around here.

One thing they do at Kaja's school, which is quite good, is they have a rule that you either invite all the girls in the class, all the boys, or everyone, That way noone will ever feel left out.