I've just been told it's tradition to invite the whole class to a birthday party ....

[sandyballs]

.... but I have twin DDs in two different reception classes which will mean 60 kids .
Their birthday isn't until March thankfully, but does anyone elses school have such a "tradition"?

[Caligula]

Bollocks to traditions. When did this "tradition" start? In 1997?

[Katemum]

What a ridiculous tradition.

[MamaG]

eek - agree bollocks to tradition! 60 kids is a heck of a big number, just invite who you want. In my DD's class, some invite whole class, some invite just same sex and some dont have partie at all.

Start a new tradition of bucking the trend!

[flamebat]

pmsl

I'd go with "Its a tradition in our family not to"

[doormat]

sandy balls if I was you no chance
never heard of this tradition

[spookyserenity]

I think that's a tradition that needs to be broken.....

We have a mixture, some parents do 'whole class' things, others do smaller ones. Do what's best for you and don't let yourself be pressured - it'll be stressful enough as it is!

[edam]

Yeah, right.

Who said this? They can't possibly demand that you cater for 62 children!

[donnie]

aaargh! this is a subject I have agonised over many a long day....at dd's nursery the entire class ( 15 so not as bad but still...) is routinely invited.Complete madness. You cannot possibly be expected to invite 60 kids to a party ! this whole area is a minefield it seems.And as for party bags ...parp!

[spookylips]

its the tradition to the Americans as they are invited to every kid bday party in their whole class.

as Dp's DD who is 6 (who lives with her mum) goes to the class's birthday parties - her poor mum must be skint!!

[spookylips]

youre better off taking the lot to the wacky warehouse where they have parties.. but 60 kids is an awful lot

[DinoScareUs]

Just a thought...at the DSs' school a lot of children have what they call a "class party" where you send in cake and, if you can be bothered, party bags. Then you can have a smaller party for the children who are genuinely friends with your own kids.

[sandyballs]

Sounds a good idea Dino - i could cope with that. DH just said, no party we'll take the girls to Butlins for the weekend, probably cheaper.

I've absolute no idea why I'm worrying about this in October

[ScarySkribble]

Tradition is what your family does, not what the other mums at school say. Not everyone will have a whole class party. Don't be bullied into doing this just because its what others expect.

Start a new tradition and do what you want to do!

[spookylucy]

Its the same as my dd's school. Im dreading it as there are 20 in her class. Ive been to a party every week for 5 weeks and ive got 2 more lined up. Im panicking because all of the parties i have been to so far have been in huge houses with huge grounds with bouncy castles, magicians, caters the works. Im by no means skint but my house is no where near as big. Dds birthday is in december so if it rains we are buggered, I do have a big garden. Its awful I never thought id worry about something like this. last week we were in a 6'5 million euro house with a lake and Champagne and Canapes. I was thinking more along the lines of red wine and jelly and icecream!

[Gobbledispook]

Well I've heard that but it's not happening in ds1's reception class. There is definitely a little girl having a party (I saw her handing out her invites in the playground) that ds is not invited to and we've had an invite from another little girl today and because I know her mum, I know she hasn't invited everyone. In fact on boy was crying this morning as the girl gave out the invites adn he didn't get one - really felt sorry for him.

Luckily ds1's birthday is end of March so I should have a good idea by then of who he really plays with!

[Passionkiller]

We got this last year and only two lots of parents were brave enough to buck the trend. Most are saying bollocks to it this year though and just inviting some.

[Passionkiller]

Spookylucy is there a anywhere you can hire to do the party? We didn't fancy the fuss and mess at home so hired a dance studio at a private health club £20 and compere £30 to run the whole party, got the kids fed by the restaurant for £5 per head. Total cost not much more than we'd spend on a swish dinner and we got to enjoy the birthday too.

[Milliways]

We are having a party here tomorrow - for my friends DD as their house is too small. Should I start a business

[mumfor1sttime]

Who is paying for this 'tradition'!! Ridiculous, hope ds doesnt have this at his school!!

[ScarySkribble]

We have had a couple of whole class parties but only because I am nosey and wanted to see who all the little b*ggers were.

We hired hall at local council activity centre for £30, it included a bouncy castle and use of hoops and balls etc, seperate area for tables. Bargain so I invited the lot.

[jabberwitchy]

Was going to post about cake in the classroom and saw Dino had already, so will just say "I second that idea!"

[hornbag]

I've only known of one whole class party at DDs school -that was a trip to the cinema (including popcorn and drinks all round), followed by birthday tea and bouncy castle in hired room at the theatre/cinema complex. All that with partybags must've cost a fair bit as there were 30 from the class and about 15 extra kids.

How about hiring a village hall/community centre together with a bouncy castle and then play traditional party games -should keep cost down a bit (might need a few adult volunteers to keep 60 kids in order though!!

[Pinotmum]

Just did a whole class party last weekend for dd 5th birthday. It was great but will not be repeated. Strictly a one off for everyone to mix.

[milward]

Why invite kids who aren't friends of your twins? My dds can take a cake to school for their birthday to include everyone.

[macwoozy]

If its tradition to do whole class invites, then then there has only been 1 birthday party so far if my ds's invites are anything to go by.