# I need help for my kids... don't be alarmed! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 7, 2000, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-help-for-my-kids-dont-be-alarmed/28439 "2000-08-07T17:04:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-help-for-my-kids-dont-be-alarmed/28439/21 "2000-08-08T20:18:43Z")
Oops! I forgot to add something else, **Rachelle**. My wife (an elementary school teacher) once told me that, as a rule of thumb, you don’t invite more kids to a birthday party than the age of the child. F’rinstance, if the birthday kid is 4, then invite four kids. If the birthday kid is 7, then invite seven kids. Not always practical, perhaps, but saves a lot of wear and tear on the parent. Or, if you’re going to invite more, then make sure some of the other parents stay to help. ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-help-for-my-kids-dont-be-alarmed/28439/22 "2000-08-08T20:29:07Z")
Oops! I forgot to add something else, **Rachelle**. My wife (an elementary school teacher) once told me that, as a rule of thumb, you don’t invite more kids to a birthday party than the age of the child. F’rinstance, if the birthday kid is 4, then invite four kids. If the birthday kid is 7, then invite seven kids. Not always practical, perhaps, but saves a lot of wear and tear on the parent. Or, if you’re going to invite more, then make sure some of the other parents stay to help. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-help-for-my-kids-dont-be-alarmed/28439/23 "2000-08-08T20:49:21Z")
[the boards are being incredibly slow and stupid here, too–I’ve seen gonzo error messages this afternoon I’ve never seen before–what does “needle must not be set on 0” mean? And for a while there, every time I tried to Preview, it would just hannnggg theerrreee…] ---
**Author:** ![Kiki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kiki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiki)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-help-for-my-kids-dont-be-alarmed/28439/24 "2000-08-08T20:51:45Z")
I have no choice but to have more kids there because they’re all of our neices and nephews! All of the people there are family so there will be lots of adults around to help with the kids. I’m definitely going to make a pinata (thin enough so the kids can bust it… hopefully) and fill it with goodie bags and we’re going to grill some hamburgers and hotdogs and then have cake and ice cream. This will just be for my daughter’s party. I think for my son’s party, even though the same people will be there, we’ll just have cake and ice cream and skip the grilling. Booze is a **must** after an ordeal like this! Have to wait till everyone goes home though! ---
**Author:** ![Pandora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eada6e/32.png) [@Pandora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pandora)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-help-for-my-kids-dont-be-alarmed/28439/25 "2000-08-09T13:00:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DAVEW0071 \* > \*\ ***Pandora** , your beach party idea is totally rad, babe! I dig it, especially when the surf’s up in the wading pool. > Seriously, it’s a very good, low maintenance kid’s party idea. But I am leery of the plastic leis. Kids that age really shouldn’t have things like that around their necks. Maybe they could color some paper and make their own or something to take home with them. Then their parents can worry about them strangling. \*\* Thanks for the compliment DAVE! You are completely right about the lei’s though. We are planning something similar for my niece… but she will be 7, and at that age, the lei’s are ok… I forgot to scale down for the age of Rachelle’s daughter. As a side note, they also make bracelet/ anklet lei’s which would probably be safer for the same effect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-help-for-my-kids-dont-be-alarmed/28439.md?page=1)