Do you throw birthday parties for your children

Parties aren't really a thing in my DC's school mainly because of cultural reasons. We tried to have a whole class party for DD in Reception and I think 8 people out of 30 came. She was heartbroken but we tried again in Y1, same thing. She didn't want to try again after that.

She's in Y6 now and hasn't had one since, nor have any of her friends. DS is in Y2 and has never had one, neither have his friends. It's just not done.

We save the money and do something special as a family instead!

YABU to not count a small gathering with 3 guests in your house as a party! If you can't afford a class party, please don't. No one will notice.

I have 2 DC & have done birthday parties of varying sizes for them both every year except during lockdown.
I have done whole class parties, but DCs go to a small school so it's not 30+ kids.
After 10 years though I'm done with village hall parties - too much effort & rarely saves much money. Sticking to venue parties with a smaller group of friends.

I did do birthday parties, never the whole class but have done a range of things. Town Hall without of kids, siblings and a bouncy castle. 2 friends and the Cinema followed by pizza, sleepovers, birthday tea and bowling. Party food at home and games in the garden.

Kids don't really care about the cost or how many people, just feeling a bit special.

Invite friends to yours for sandwiches and homemade cake, few party games and a party bag with haribo and a bubble mixture pot

Reception I did the whole class party but split the costs with another mum as the birthdays were the same week and we were both thinking of the same venue on the same day.

Y1 I think was just the boys in the class, then Y2 onwards it got smaller. One year we did ten pin bowling and they laid on a party buffet, another year it was Pizza Hut with about 6 kids in total.

If you can’t afford it this year then don’t have one. Most people have around 10-12 guests rather than the whole class where I live but they certainly don’t have these bigger type of parties every year for their child.

Been having parties with my 3 year old all through. Even in difficult times as I lost my job.

I had very few parties growing up. Never had a circle of friends. I don't want that for my little one. I want them to have a party , decorations , cake every year. Even if small.

Small parties. He's been to nursery since he was 8 months old when I joined work. So called his nursery "friends" for the first year and so on. First two were home parties with pizzas for adults. Last one was at a farm. Total expenditure this year £300 including lunch for adults. And spent £70 on top for the themed cake. But that's optional.

I throw them, also a single parent, i budget for parties like I do for presents (I'm a low earner but appreciate some can't budget for presents or parties). Our local village hall is £30 for hire though and then you can just do music, party games and your own food so could something like that be an option if DC want one?

What is your budget? I just did a class party for DS for £75. Literally just a hall, home made food and a football (10 a side).

I voted YABU but maybe that's not what you meant - I have never done a whole class party but just invited either family plus a few kids (pre-school age) or around 10 kids (school age) to have a party at home or in the park, depending on weather.

I feel a bit harsh if I say YABU because you have given a really good reason because you can't afford it. I would say YABU only if you said you hated throwing them and couldn't be bothered!
My DS is 10 now and I think going forward it will only be a small select group of friends, pizza, cinema or something like that as he has actually said he doesn't want anything big anymore. The last few years have been gaming parties, football parties, play area parties etc...it has been quite an expense tbh. I remember during lockdown it was his 6th birthday and it was just us, a cake and party games at home and he loved it. Even though I have been a sucker for it, I do think the pressure nowadays to throw massive event parties has gone way ott.

I had the whole class but was stressful. Pick a few kids and do something low key.

There’s no obligation to have all class parties if you’d rather not.
Inviting a few of his friends round to yours is fine, but don’t not celebrate because you can’t afford all bells and whistles.