Birthday parties - etiquette!!

[knowler]

Hello

DS is nearly 4 and in preschool. He's a happy and confident boy which is obviously great and means he seems to have a lot of friends. Consequently, the party invites have started to roll in.it seems as if he is likely to have a party on most weekends from now on. My question is whether it is generally the done thing to simply accept all invitations or whether people are generally a bit more discerning about his party their children go to. And if so, how do you dbetter cide?

He has just been invited to a frozen party by two little girls who i have never heard him talk about and when i asked he did not seem particularly friendly with or bothered about going to the party. However he has just started this new pre school and i don't want to stop him from making friends.frozen is not exactly his thing however!!

also some of the parties clash with his swimming lessons. I don't want him to miss a lot of the lessons but equally i don't want him to miss out on parties.

I am probably making a meal of this but as he is my first i have never encountered the birthday party whirlwind yet!

how do people deal with the invitations and do i have to simply now accept that every weekend for the next 14 years is going to be filled with children's parties :)

First off, you do what you want and bugger the rest.
Secondly. We accept parties that fit round things we already have planned. If it clashes with swimming we would only not swim if it was a best friends party.
Thirdly, the number of invites drops off as they get slightly older and there are less all class parties so it does get easier
Fourthly. Parties are a great way as a patent if getting to know other parents. So every now and then it can be handy to go and meet and chat.
Enjoy!

Hello. I remember this well, we accepted every invitation. DS got to mix with lots of friends and I got to chat with people I had never met and make friends myself.

As they get older in my experience, they get a bit fussier as to who to invite.

Thanks, that is helpful. I suppose I am over thinking this a bit due to fact that I am am anti social bugger at the best of times and don't want to pass on my natural stand-offishness to ds!!

Oh yes by the age of 7 most parents have cottoned on to the fact that you can't invite the whole class to every party your child has and only have the immediate friend group. So invitations drop off by then.

I know people who accept every invite but we've never done that. If it's a close friend then yes, my child goes. Everything else is if my child fancies, or if we've got something else on we decline. Tbh we are fairly picky about parties and tend now to only attend those of close friends.

Everything Strumpers said.

And, class parties are common at preschool and into Reception, Year 1 and by Year 2 they tail off and become more parties for boys or girls.

You will be able to lift share and/or drop and run as they get older too - I've a nervous Year 3 girl and even we've been able to manage this in the last 18 months.

I know how you feel knowler. I was forever buying gifts for children I had never met and rolling up at soft play places I had no idea existed.

Hi, we don't go to parties that clash with swimming lessons unless a best friend, otherwise would always be missing swimming. The party invites get restricted to a smaller group from about age 7, the party every weekend phase doesn't last. Only go if it doesn't clash with pre planned activities.

Ooh one last thing. Get thee onto the book people buy a multi pack of gender neutral age appropriate books and bingo you have a £4 book gift for 99p so it isn't too expensive.

Brilliant present idea - like an idiot I've been going out and carefully choosing individual presents when I know from m my own DS they don't really care :)

Buy a load of birthday cards too.