question for you - birthday invites

ediep wrote: Jason's birthday party is on September 23, less than three weeks away. We are having a kiddie party at an indoor playground and a family party at my house. I figured I'd invite his class and his other (out of school) friends to the kiddie party.

His school is at church, so today after mass, we went to check out his classroom and the class list was posted. There are 20 kids in the class, 17 of which will be there on 1 or more of the days that jason will be there (M,W,F) 12-13 kids total each day. The complicated part is that only 9 or so of the kids he knows from last year. Who do I invite??? All of them? just the ones he'll see during the week? or just the ones he knows from last year?

The kicker.....I asked him who he wanted to invite and he named three girls who aren't even in his class this year. They are triplets and they were in his class last year.

need opinions????? I have to get these invitations out the first week of shcoo.l

C&K*s Mommie replied: I would invite the 12-13 kids he sees on a regular basis each day. Plus the triplets, that he remembered from last yr.

Of the 3-4 children who Jason and you are not familiar with it would be at that parents discretion to send the child to the party anyhow. If they are not familiar with you because they did not know you from last yr, than they may choose not to attend.

Some may choose to attend and send their child because they may want to get to know you & Jason. That would be a great way to start a good friendship outside of school.

boyohboyohboy replied: at our last preschool, each kids had a folder or cubby, and we put invitations in there, kinda private, so that not everyone knew about it, just for the kids that my son knew and played with, so that the other kids and parents wouldnt get their feelings hurt.

ediep replied:
This is what I was going to do, but since there are 20 kids in the class (jason is one of them, so 19 other kids) only 2 kids are exclusively tuesday and thursday...which means that only 2 kids that Jason wouldn't see during the week. The other 17 kids are with Jason at least one day.

Should I invite just the 17 and leave out only 2?

ediep replied:
most of the parents put the invitations in the parent sign in book. So when you go to sing your child in and out each day, the invite would be attached to your page. Its pretty obvious who is invited because you have to flip through the book to get your page and you see all the other invites attached to the pages

ediep replied:

Jamison'smama replied: Hmmm, we are going through something similar so I don't have a good answer. Jamison's party is this month and she will be in a different class this year with different kids that she's never met so instead of inviting the class, I am having her choose what kids she wants at her party the most and mailing the invitations directly to their homes. Most are from her class last year. Did you get a school directory with the addresses of his friends? If so, maybe you can go the mailing route this year to limit the number of kids to those he really wants there.

my2monkeyboys replied: I would invite them all if it isn't a problem financially/space-wise.
Then the parents can decide whether to attend and chances are atleast 5-6 won't be able to make it anyway.

C&K*s Mommie replied: hmmm... in that case you should go ahead and invite the remaining two, and make it an even 19; however, with the thought in mind, that 1/2 to 2/3 of invited guests usually show up while the last 1/2-1/3 typically do not.

It would be a great way to not only start off the year with Jason getting to know new friends inside and outside of school, but a way for you to connect with parents who you might not otherwise see on a regular basis. Just my

I always have the more, the merrier mentality.

My3LilMonkeys replied:
Personally, unless finances are an issue, I would say invite them all. I would feel bad leaving out only 2 kids.

luvmykids replied:
You may want to check with the teacher too, the kids school has a policy that if invites are handed out at school all kids in the class have to be invited.

MommyToAshley replied:
I agree with Brenda. I asked Ashley who she wanted to invite. She named the ten kids that she plays with on a regular basis. There are 20 kids in her class as well, but about half of them are not from her class last year. I decided not to invite the children she didn't know very well. There were only 8 kids at Ashley's party (two were on vacation), but I think it was the perfect number of kids. She had a blast and got to play with all her closest friends. I personally think any more kids at this age would have been too overwhleming and chaotic. And, I don't think Ashley would have cared if the others showed up because she barely knew them.

I also mailed out the invitations to avoid any hurt feelings. I believe her school has a policy that you can't hand out invitations at school unless all the kids are invited.

HTH. Good luck. I can't wait to see the pics, it sounds like it is going to be a great party.

ediep replied:
thanks so much everyone!

This is what I snded up doing. I invited the kids in his class that he knew from last year.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
Stacy brought up a good point. I know the parent are all adults, and nobody should care much, but people really do. I would try to remain as low key as possible to be respectful.