We held Jacob's sixth birthday party at a nearby park. There was just no way we could fit the amount of kids he wanted to invite into our house or our yard so that was the plan. I started calling parks back in January thinking I would have plenty of time to set something up, but I was wrong. Most parks were booked through summer on Saturdays so I proceeded to freak out. Then it occured to me to just inquire about a Sunday and, lo and behold, the very Sunday I wanted was free, crisis diverted. Of course, then there were the weeks of wondering how the weather would turn out and figuring out what we would do in that worst case scenario....which we never did, I guess we would have played in the rain, but thankfully, the weather was wonderful. There were tons of kids, many more parents, and tons and tons of food. My husband insisted on cooking lunch for everyone, even though as I suspected, most everyone went out for lunch between church and the party. We will be eating hot dogs and chips throughout March.
Let me ask your opinion on this, though: Siblings.....what is the proper etiquette about bringing them to a party when they weren't exactly invited? I know I'm not the only one presented with this dilemma either.
Now, I don't really have a problem with the siblings coming, especially at the park where there is plenty of room to roam, but I asked for an RSVP on the invitations because, well, I am cheap and I didn't want to have to fill a bunch of goodie bags with expensive junk if I didn't need to. I mean, have you SEEN how much that crap costs? So, I purchased just enough stuff to fill bags for the party kids plus two. Now, should the party guest's parent have informed me when they RSVP'd that they were bringing the sibling or should I have just assumed they would come? Should I have added a little note to the invite asking them to let me know if the brother/sister was coming or would that be too rude? I guess I am wondering because I want to be prepared for next year. The same thing happened to us at the fifth birthday party, the only difference was last year I had to pay fifteen bucks a kid at that party and four extra kids really added up. This year I just had to tell my good friends that I would make up a goody bag for their kids later as my husband, even after having been told that I didn't have enough, gave all the siblings a goody bag. I hate not being prepared and hate it even worse when I am prepared and something like that throws me off. Also, when are they too old for the goody bag? Seven right?
Anyway, even with all that minor stress, it was a good time. I highly recommend the bouncy slide, your kids will fall asleep as soon as you return and stay that way for the rest of the night. It's okay that they are covered in sugar and mud, you will have three extra hours of free time you won't know what to do with.
I got, like, four pictures the entire afternoon. My fantabulous, expensive camera decided to eat batteries all day long and never did really work. My friend ran the video camera and that also decided to die half way through. This was all I got.....
4 comments:
Well, at least you had fun. I ALWAYS ask if it's an outdoor party before I bring any other children. I would NEVER assume that the invite was for anyone other than the kid invited! And I've never had anyone bring extra kids! Must be a Texas thing. :)
Glad you had fun, though. Oh, and on the goody bags - save yourself the time and money and just bring blank paper lunch sacks, a marker, and a pinata. They can fill their bags and voila! A goody bag. Also, if you feel compelled to give prizes (as I do) I cut up sheets of stickers so that each kid can get a few. They don't need or care about a bunch of stuff, they just like to get something, you know? This year, I bought a kite for each child that came to Justin's party. It made a big impression and they each only cost $1 at WalMart!!
The party sounded like a big hit and that slide looked awesome. You must the coolest mama around to have gotten that thing :)
As far as siblings go: If I have to bring Jason I let them know ahead of time or one of Markys school friends had a bowling party on a week day, so I brought Jason and some other moms brought their smaller kids and we got our own lane, brought the little ones their own lunches and kept them away from the bigger kids while still watching our older children (no favor bags were required or expected). It's pretty rude to bring extra kids without even mentioning it (IMO).
That slide looks like FUN!! Jacob looks so grown up too.
I always stress over parties too. I also think it's RUDE to bring siblings without checking with the host first. I usually try to avoid that by inviting all of the kids, but I'm sure as they get older and make more friends, that would make the guest list HUUUUGE.
This is when I'm glad my kids are five years apart. I used to have to do the tag-along thing with my younger brother in tow when I was growing up. I made a vow to myself not to do that to my kids. I make every effort to find a babysitter if my kid needs me present at a party. If I can't find one, I send my kid along with a trusted friend/adult...maybe watch their kid. The whole village raising kids mind set going on there.
When I did the goody bags, I only made two extra in case someone was forgotten and have never given one to a tag along sibling. Call me horrible, but I don't expect it with mine and I'm not catering to your princess/prince.
Dang, remind me not to post when I'm pms'ing.
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