so week 2 at school and the party invites have begun to arrive....

[dissle]

dont know who the child is, do you think that it is a good way of meeting school friends?
ds says she isnt in his class so she must know him from some where...think play school???
will accept, on the grounds that its nice of them to ask and it will be a good opportunity to meet his school pals.
so whats the etiquate, how much do you spend on a present?
i will want to stay with him (its at a church hall) is this acceptable?
not done this before...what do you do???

I would want to stay if I didn't know the parents or even the child - how old is your child? I'd say most parents seem to stay up until 4/5.
I usually spend a fiver. maybe a bit more if it's a good friend

That's nice of them to do that. I usually spend anything from £6 to £10. Things are so expensive these days. What age is ds. My dd always wanted me to leave as I was cramping her style!

Deinitely a good way of getting to know people. If you want to go, out of coutesy, could you ask the Mum first if it's OK you stay? Sghe will proibably be expecting it but at this age some of them leave them at parties.
I spend up to £5 on a present.

DS1 has a party on Saturday and two on Sunday - they certainly have more of a social life than me

spend a fiver .. bulk buy now it'll make sense in the long run

ask when you RSVP whether its ok to stay, ask if there's anything you can do to help prepare, make yourself useful at the church hall rather than just stay with your child .. ask hostess what you can do .. if you see something that needs doing just do it ... nice way to make your own friends

I generally spend a fiver

Count yourself lucky this has only started now - dd is at nursery and has been to god only knows how many parties since all her friends started turning three (she wasn't even 2½ when she went to her first)

Agree re buying in bulk. Buy multipacks of books etc. Pink girly frilly hair things go down well with little girls and aren't too expensive. Sainsbury's were doing MY Little Ponies for a fiver - I cleared the shelves of them for dd's mates

thanks, he is only 4 and because i dont know them then i will stay.
i think that £5 is enough to pay for a pressy, will check out tesco, see what they have.

I spend 5-6 pounds as well, take advantage of any buy one get one free type offers you see on things like books- you'll be glad of them fast enough!

Its would be unusual not to stay at this age