to be annoyed dd1 is never invited to peoples houses?

[muddyprints]

dd1 is 5, has a nice group of friends at school and likes to see them out of school.
she has invited them all to our house over the past 2 years, some of them have been 5 or 6 times each, they play nicely together and are no trouble so im happy for them to come over, except dd is never invited back to their houses.
she has been to one friends house once when I specifically said can we come over.
dd is quiet and friendly so I don't think there is a personality problem that they don't want her there and they keep sending their dcs to our house so don't mind kids playing together.
people say it would be nice for kids to play together and then ask what do I think, I agree, then they stand there or say cant do it at their house and wait for me to offer.
aibu to ignore hints and suggest we meet at the park?
dd likes them to play so maybe I should just keep inviting and not worry but its getting unfair, im left with the mess, the noise, entertaining dd2 so she doesn't feel left out, cooking dinner for them and dd asks why cant she play at other houses and isn't getting the opportunity to be taken round while young and get confident to go alone.

[BarbarianMum]

Well call me petty but I would be pissed off if my kids never got return invites. It is hard if both parents work full time, or one child minds or if you have another child with special needs -we have friends who fall into all those categories yet they still manage the occasional invitation.

Playing at your friends houses is part of friendship for small children. Luckily round here people seem to get that.

[NotQuitePerfect]

Smiling ruefully with the familiarity of it all.

I always had other kids over, remember in half-term hols etc driving past school mum clearly on her way to the gym and feeling a bit envious at her freedom. In the back of MY car would be her kid, my 2, plus extra friend.

When I broke my wrist & couldn't drive for 6 weeks, my DS was not invited out for tea once. Not once. As soon as I could drive again we were back in the old routine of him having friends for tea 1-2 nights per week.

It's just the way it is. Life is not fair.

But try to play the glad game.

As some wise peron said upthread, be pleased & congratulate yourself that your kid's friends want to be at your house. I love the fact that DS's mates are often hanging out & feel at home here (they're all 17-18 now). Same for dd's mates when she back from uni. I get to know more about whats going on in their lives and it keeps communication lines open.

[Perspective21]

Completely unscientific point...noticed a couple of posters mention fussy eaters from extremely tidy homes. I have noticed this too, the fussiest children, about everything, e.g. What they'll eat, what they'll play, wear or just generally do...seem to come from surgically clean homes. Is there a link? I'm on DC 3 and my theory still holds true. We are clean and as tidy as is possible to manage with DC 3 at the toddler stage with SN. However, I am very welcoming of friends, provide tasty snacks and other children like our perfectly ordinary house.

[TheBirdsFellDownToDingADong]

My child is very fussy. Actually, she isn't. She just doesn't like eating much lol. But my house is minging. This is MN's fault obviously.

[Perspective21]

Good point! If I hide the iPad from myself, we do look a little tidier!! Still, it's strike day, we've got a friend round, it's going to get messy.. I'll have a tidy up after

[Jux]

I hate hosting dd's friends, but they come round lots. I feed them and chat when they want to chat and keep out of the way the rest of the time. She rarely goes to their houses. I don't know why and I'm not that bothered. Nor is she. She's in secondary now, and it has always been like this, except for nursery.

[Mumsyblouse]

I think it is quite rude to keep accepting invitations for your children to go round to other people's houses and never invite them back. It's fine to just invite with no expectation of it being returned, I do that, but it's still noticeable if several (not even just one) parents just never ever return the invitation. However, my children's friends and their families all seem like us, invite a bit not too much and try to return invitations where possible. If I've had two invites from the same parent, I try to invite back even if it is a bit inconvenient for me, which it is inbetween work/dropping off when you have another child etc.

[jellybeans]

I do have their friends round but prefer it to be occasional. Perhaps every month or two. It really annoys me when people invite my kids weekly or more and then expect the same back. I just can't do it with 5 DC, husbands shifts (can't have them while he is in bed after nights for example) and my studying and after school clubs we have little time.

Some people do far too many and I used to avoid them at the school gates as they invited my kids twice a week without fail. I do want to see my own kids! I think for some people it is just easier for them.

[gotthemoononastick]

Maxpepsi...you are from the Southern Hemisphere??Are you my daughter?

[VonHerrBurton]

Jelly - how on earth does your dh manage to get any sleep with 5 dc in the house?! They must be very quiet or he must be very tired!

[forehead]

I really can't believe that people expect invites to be reciprocated.
I work extremely long hours in a demanding job, so it is often difficult for me to arrange playdates at my home. To be honest i dislike playdates.
However, i do arrange trips to the cinema, during the holidays.

[forehead]

Agree Jelly.. some parents have playdates every week. I am unable to reciprocate.

[DeWe]

With 3 dc (12, 9 and 6) and three schools to pick up some nights, combined with after school clubs there aren't many evenings I can invite back in a term.
The thing is that if dd2 has a club, I can leave dd1 to look after ds while I drop her off. But I can't ask dd1 to look after ds and a friend, it's not fair on dd1 or the friend.
Equally if dd1 has a local club, then I may leave dd2 on her own. But I wouldn't leave dd2 with a friend. But I won't leave ds with dd2.

So that means that if dd2 or ds have a friend, they will have time sat in the car, waiting for the activity to finish. I don't think it;s fair to invite a child round knowing that you'll have to drag them out 2-3 times to pick another child up.

Also I only have a 5 seater car, so I can only take 1 friend with all 3 of my dc. Often I'm giving lifts to other children to the activities, so I physically can't do it.

[BarbarianMum]

[Mumsyblouse]

If the reason you don't return the favour is a practical one such as DeWe's then fine, say this to the other person- I can't do it because of XY and Z. That way the person knows you would love to do this but you can't for practical reasons and may even be able to help out (e.g. play round theirs more than yours, pick up or drop off). I always drop off one of my dd's friends (even though I have another child) because the mum's often at home with two tinies and can't start driving round at 8pm for a pickup . Similarly if you don't do something in the term, but take all the children out in the holidays, that's fine.

It's when people just accept invite after invite and don't seem to think that they need to do anything in return that I think it's rude- for the reasons BarbarianMum has given. No-one loves playdates, no-one loves cooking for more kids, no-one loves driving them home afterwards while juggling more than one child, but most people are in the same boat and also working, so expecting them to go out of their way and put themselves out to entertain your chld, but not being willing to do it, even occasionally, is quite lazy in my opinion. No- they don't love playdates any more than you do!!!

[muddyprints]

tbh, the kids are nice so I don't mind them coming over, and its not weekly, every few weeks I ask dd if she'd like a friend round and she picks one, I don't expect an instant return offer.
but dd is 5 and would really like to play at their house, see new toys, get away from dd2 for an hour secretly, get used to going to new places, getting independent. they talk at school and dd comes home and says x wants her to go and play, I tell her the mom needs to ask her, then no offer comes and dd is disappointed asking me why cant she ever play at their house, why do they always come to our house.
most are sahms with 1 other child, same as me.
I will keep asking them round as dd likes them.