WWYD having to pay for child to go to party

loobylou232

There is no problem here. The party is for the older child, the younger sibling is not a party guest. I think you are being over sensitive and should either accept the fact (now and for many, many times in the future) that both your children will have separate party invitations and an invite for one is categorically NOT an invitation for all your children or refuse all parties!

magenta22

Can you offer to pay for your youngest?

You could explain to your friend how you are worrying how the younger one will be watching everyone eat and being told she can't have any of it and are you able to bring her a little something?

The other thing would be to ask if you could take something for her and that be put on the table with the other food and it's special for her?

Call the venue and explain and ask if you can take food in for her.

Alternatively - take the older one to the party, leave her in the care of the other parent and take the younger one to the park.

mr_and_mrs_ts

Hi there all valid points above - If i were you, leave the little one with a trusted relative and / or your older one with the mother whose party she is going to. If not, i'd take some food and let little one have something to munch on. Don't worry yourself about it as it gets worse when they start school.:rotfl:

My 2 had been invited to parties and last one 1 had friends came without a present. I was glad tbh as I think these parties are overrated and competitive and my daughter and i were glad to see her celebrate the day with her, she never worried about a present.

Mimi09

I've just had a soft play party for my daughter, with allocated no.of chn for food. There was plenty of food and i asked siblings if they would like to join in rather than waste it. If its cold, i don't think it will be an issue on the day - just grab a few things on a plate, also there's likely to be child/ren that don't turn up through illness. Take a few snack back ups, but I think she'll get plenty to eat!

jasmin10

My DD had her 6th birthday at a venue where I paid the £40 for sole use plus £8 per child on top. I too, like you, have a group of friends where we have know each other since our children were 10weeks old. 6 years on some do now have second babies.

We were on a tight budget for her party as I am expecting (dec) so told her she could invite 14 friends. This would be whoever she wanted. Out of the guests invited there were three (two from the group) who brought along younger siblings. I didnt say anything to anyone as the invitations which were written by DD had the name of the person she was inviting on it. The people who brought the siblings didnt take it for granted that their youngest was also there to eat and two of them went to the reception desk and just paid for a childs meal (£4) so she could sit with the party children.

I certainly wont take offence when my second one tags along for next years parties as I would never expect anyone to pay for an addition. I would automatically ask up front if it would be ok to bring the other one and pay for their meal.

pinkclouds

sarahevie wrote: »

For me she's either invited or not, how would you deal with this?

I wouldn't go. I'd politely decline the invitation and leave it at that. You can't dictate how someone else hosts a party but you can choose not to attend.

You can't invite someone and then expect them not to participate - especially a young child who won't understand why they are being treated like that. Even if the younger child didn't have an invitation and you enquired if siblings were invited, the host should just say "sorry, no extra guests" if they aren't willing/able to fully accommodate them.

Spendless

Just a thought but what are the meals provided? If it's each child chooses whether it has chicken nuggets or fish fingers or sausages with chips and beans I can see how it is awkward for your DD at her age to see all kids eating and not have a meal of her own. If instead it's plates of sandwiches, crisps, biscuits etc. Then there is likely to be enough going spare for her to have a sandwich or something.

The other thing you can ask is if the venue will be catering for anyone other than the party guests since it's exclusive use. If it is also open to order additional food you could buy your LO their own meal.

I think I'd be tempted to ask my friend if it is a sit down or buffet meal and if the venue will be allowing ordering of additional meals. If it's the sausage and chips variety and you can't order either I'd leave LO with someone else if possible.

property.advert

I held one of these at a soft play place and paid for the invited children. If parents wanted to bring more, then they could pay but it was left to them to sort out.

Bringing in extra food was not an issue, though we didn't that much. They were quite anal about numbers but it is a business after all, though I think most owners end up doing it as a first business and are often still finding their own way so to speak.