Wise words needed over 8yo son left out of birthday party

[sudingest]

Hi, can any wise parents out there help me, my 8yo son has not been invited to the (small) birthday party of someone he thinks (and given the number of playdates I also think) is a good friend.

He's the kid my son likes most at school and I think its gonna upset him when he finds out (today or tomorrow) - he'll be ok tho won't he?

I just feel a bit sad for him, apologies if this is pathetic of me, I don't expect son to get invites to everything but this one party missed is gonna be tough I think.

This has happened every year to my son. The child he thinks of as his best friend does not invite him. I have suggested that maybe they are doing something he won't like or maybe its something he knew other people would like better or maybe he was feeling a bit grumpy at ds the day he issued the invites. There is no easy answer. To be fair though, ds has always seemed less bothered by this than me and has a variety of explanations of his own which seem to satsify him.