Child writing names on party invites - cringy?

[HanaPort]

My DD is 3, turning 4 in april. She has always had good fine motor control, and in the last few months has become very enthusiastic about learning to write. My DH and I support this but do not push it - it is always her taking the initiative to ask to practice. We live in a european country where kids don’t start proper school, and so reading and writing, until 6. She’s in a pre-school where the focus is very much on play and creativity, not academic activities, and I know for sure they haven’t done any writing practice there, so I suppose that most of the other kids will not be writing. She’s turning 4 next month and is very excited about her party. I printed the invitations today for her to give out at her pre-school, and was taken aback this evening when she said she wanted to write her friends’ names on them. She was so happy and proud of the idea that we did do a few of her friends (me telling her the letters and her writing them). Now I am really cringing though at the thought of giving them out though - will we look like those parents showing off at how precocious their darling is?! It really was her idea, and she was so excited about it!
I haven’t run this through my normal parenting channels of friends on whatsapp groups because it feels like showing off, but I am really doubting whether or not to reprint the invitations! I am super proud of my DD and how hard she has worked at her writing so I don’t want her to get the wrong impression and think she did the wrong thing. To add, we don’t really know many of the parents at the pre-school very well, so we are still at the ’first impressions’ stage.
What do you think - be proud of her and don’t worry about what the others think, or reprint?

[MaloneMeadow]

Why on earth would it be cringy? I think it’s very sweet and by all means you should encourage her to do the rest

[Mythnames]

I think you’re overthinking it, just let her write them as long as they’ll be legible! At 4 in reception about half the class (including my DD) wrote the names on the Xmas cards and i genuinely can’t remember at this stage who did and who didn’t

[maudelovesharold]

Surely it’s more important to let your dd know how impressed you are by her perseverance in writing her friends’ names on the invitations, than to worry about what some random parents might think!

[MartineBIT]

It’s lovely! Be proud!

[modgepodge]

I had a similar panic last year at that age when I printed thank you letters and asked my daughter to write her name on them, she also wanted to write her friends names. I let her cos it’s good to give children a purpose for their writing. I did worry it looked a bit ‘look at me, look how clever my child is!’ But no one said anything and my daughter was happy so that was more important to me.

[MummaMummaJumma]

Absolutely send the invitations with your Daughters handwriting. As soon as my DD started writing, she did all the cards for birthdays etc. I couldn’t care less if people thought I was being smug, my DD feeling a sense of accomplishment was far more important.

But, I really don’t think anyone will think anything about you. Apart from its a really lovely idea.

[HanaPort]

Thanks for the replies and helping me realise I was definitely overthinking it 😅 I am immensely proud of my lovely DD, and her feeling the sense of achievement is definitely the important thing.

[CrispsandCheeseSandwich]

I don't think this is that unusual? When my DD was in nursery we had quite a few invitations and Christmas cards where the child had written the names. And they weren't teaching it at the nursery so hadn't learnt it there.

This isn't a brag btw, my daughter wasn't writing hers at 3! But I don't think it would come across as smug or "that" parent.

[NotestoSelf]

This is a deeply weird post. Perfectly normal for a child to write invitations as soon as they're able -- I doubt anyone would think twice. Very odd to think that whether to let your four year old write names on printed birthday party invitations is a matter of such controversy it needs to be run through 'parenting channels' on WhatsApp.

[turkeymuffin]

Loads of 4 year olds can write. Some start school the day after they turn 4.

The variation is huge at that age, just go with the flow of what she's interested in

[HanaPort]

@NotestoSelf

This is a deeply weird post. Perfectly normal for a child to write invitations as soon as they're able -- I doubt anyone would think twice. Very odd to think that whether to let your four year old write names on printed birthday party invitations is a matter of such controversy it needs to be run through 'parenting channels' on WhatsApp.

😂Thanks, one (wo)man's weird is another's normal. But I think I didn't convey very well that the context here is really quite different to the UK one - kids start school much later, and reading/writing is really seen as something that much older kids, 6ish, will do. For the younger ones there is a lot of emphasis on play and the idea that the more academic skills are only for later (people often express shock that kids in the UK start at 4). I personally find it a bit strange, but all kids here will be at the same level as UK kids by the time they're 7 or 8 so maybe there's something in it. But my fear of being seen as the pushy or show-off parent was related a lot to that - I understand that in the UK it would not be so unusual.

[NotestoSelf]

I didn't have my child in the UK, either, but in a system where formal education starts later. I think the concept of the 'pushy parent' is very UK-specific. The most a four year old writing names on invitations is likely to get elsewhere is probably a moment's mild surprise at where the impulse for her to start writing might come from so far ahead of it being on the school curriculum.

[Madamlulu]

I think this is fab! My nephew was the same and my SIL had similar worries.

You know what some people will be judgy which is just their own worries about their own child's progression just like some comments on this post are judgy by calling your post 'weird'. However those people really are not worth the time of day or the concern. Your daughter's feelings are however important and she's a really cleave girl so get them sent!