How terrible is it not to invite DS1's entire class to his 5th birthday party?

[BEAUTlFUL]

We're having the party in our (tiny) house, and DH has said he'll do the entertainment himself to save the £200-odd entertainer fee. So we've only invited 10 boys from DS1's class.

Will the others all get upset? Should I have invited all of them and just hoped that half couldn't make it? If yes, should I send out hasty invites now and hope the lack of notice means they'll decline, or is that even worse?

Party is just over 1 week away.

how many boys were in the class? I'd say if there were 15 or more that is fine, if there were 12 boys then you should have invited all of them or far fewer IMO.

I usually stick to 1 friend per year of their life +1, that is plenty for it to feel like an occasion.

as long as "the others" are not only 2 or 3 children...someone in dd class invited all except about 4 children

not terrible at all...BLOODY sensible if you ask me.

i am inviting 1 boy from my boys class to his and i dont feel bad about it at all.
we are the same as you, it is too much money to hire some where or got to adventure play places. we jsut havent got the money.
we are having it at home with family kids.
about 7 kids. having a BBQ

Agree with CarGirl is totally depends on how many you left out. If you've invited nearly everyone it's totally different to inviting about half.
If it's a large class the other parents will totally understand.

There are 18 boys in the class (inc my son). So I'm in the clear?

Some parents get around the problem by inviting only their child's particular class group, but of the 6 kids in my son's group, 4 are girls!

Thanks for your help!

honestly dont worry.
you have invited plenty and they wont be upset.
lots of the mums talking in the play ground about parties at weekend, mine hasnt been invited, im not bothered neither is he....quite relieved really to have a weekend off from having to buy pressies and get to one venue or another.

Bloody hell, is it NORMAL to invite the whole class? I had no idea. I thought 7 or 8 kids was ample whatever the age.

certainly not usual to invite whole class to parties round here. I think it's crazy - what if you don't like the whole class? Why should you invite people you don't want to be there just because it's what other people expect?

It's not a wedding after all

It;s fine. I only ever had the maximum of ten at my childrens parties.

I don't think it's terrible. I told ds1 he could invite six people from his class, and they were his choice. I didn't see the point of inviting children that he doesn't really play with.

It's fine. I'd agree with Kerry and say it would be a terrible idea to invie the whole class, unless of course you're a bit of a masochist of course.

For DS's 5th birthday he invited two children round from his class.

not terrible at all!

Very few people invite the whole class, its just not financially practical.

I think its fine to invite a few, but be tactful how you give out the invitations. Some mothers have about the tact of a ten ton lorry.

we have parties coming up. have invited whole class to ds1's - but his class only has 11 kids in it anyway, so thats alright then !
have invited all of ds2's class to his 3 weeks later and tis about 19 of them [gulp] but it'll be easy really as can afford the entertainer who will manage the kids and all i have to do is food and speak to all the 'rents.

theres no way on earth id invite like, 30 odd kids. no way jose.

oh forgot to say have only done this as we've been invited to every birthday party of theirs and been to most of them. would be a bit rude not to return gesture as theres so few of them.

DD had her 6th birthday recently and we took her and five friends to the local bowling alley - it cost be £65 and they all had a fab tie - two gaimes of bowling, food and facepainting.

And you dont get a house full of plasic tat great presents!! Do what you feel is right - your child doesnt get invited to all the kids parties - we bucked the trend this year and everyone thought it was a good idea!

i have insisted that the girls come too btw. i like the girls! and we've been to their parties...