School birthday parties - what's the 101?

ChilliBob

pickledonionspaceraider said:

What fresh hell is this?
Parents feeling embarrassed because they cannot (or do not want to) invite a group of 60 children?

I would leave the whatsapp group and teach my kid to march to the beat of their own drum and not bow to peer pressure and not be forced into social situations not of their choosing

I would reply to the invites though

Na, nothing like that at all really. Just wondered how things had changed in the 30+ years since I had been in that position myself!

In still in the group, but muted lol, 60 messages between Friday night and now, quite full on lol

powerspowers

I don’t think I’d cope with class WhatsApp!!

I volunteer with children aged 10-13 and the party expectations have calmed down a lot by that age in terms of numbers. I regularly hear kids saying “I did x but mum said I could only invite 4 friends “. But the activity seems to have increased in price. 

annabanana82

powerspowers said:

I don’t think I’d cope with class WhatsApp!!

I volunteer with children aged 10-13 and the party expectations have calmed down a lot by that age in terms of numbers. I regularly hear kids saying “I did x but mum said I could only invite 4 friends “. But the activity seems to have increased in price. 

The price really does! My Son is desperate for a paintball party, but the cost of the pellets makes it really expensive. He can wait until someone else has a party or he's old enough to go with Explorers. 
It's also incredibly painful, I went once and swore more in my one game than ever before 

hedgewitchery

annabanana82 said:

The price really does! My Son is desperate for a paintball party, but the cost of the pellets makes it really expensive. He can wait until someone else has a party or he's old enough to go with Explorers. 
It's also incredibly painful, I went once and swore more in my one game than ever before 

Have you tried laser tag as a (presumably) cheaper, non-contact alternative?

Rob5342

pinkshoes said:

ARGH. I hate parents who do not reply. Even worse when their kid then turns up and they didn't reply!

ALWAYS reply. Even if you can't go. It's very helpful for parent organising it.

My daughter has left primary school now but parents not replying were an absolute nightmare. Two weeks after handing out the invitations there were still over half of them that hadn't replied and we had to approach them all in the playground to find out if they were coming or not. It's hard to imagine what they were thinking, somone has gone to the bother of asking their child to a birthday party and has a significant cost in arranging food etc, but they couldn't be bothered to spend 30 seconds typing yes or no into a text message.