Really. I mean, should any kid get a birthday party? If not, what should they get? A slap in the head for creating another human footprint and helping to kill the planet?
Oh, yes. When we had the half-birthday party for my college friend, her boyfriend set up the candles - including the half-candle, sliced lengthwise with an Xacto-knife.
Moved into a new neighborhood. Started to get to know the neighbors. While celebrating one little girl’s birthday (at the regular time), we discovered her brother’s birthday had been shortly after our arrival. So we gave him a 1/2 birthday party. He had a 1/2 birthday cake (made the other part of the recipe into cupcakes) and gave him parts of his presents at that time (yo-yo without the string, one flip flop, etc). We did give him the other parts of the presents after the party.
How old is sprog? Does he attend b’day parties for his peers?
I think it’s a great idea. I’m surprised by all of the “gift grab” votes. Did those of you who voted negative have birthday parties when you were growing up?
It sounds like the perfect solution for someone with a summer birthday to share a special day with their peers. As earlier stated, it would not be in good taste to invite all of the relatives but for school friends it’s perfect.
I think it’s okay for a young child. I’d probably explain on the invitation that it was essentially the child’s actual birthday party, just being celebrated at a different time of year. ("Since Billy’s birthday is December 26th, we’re celebrating now so that his birthday isn’t overshadowed by the holiday.)
I think it’s a bad idea. Even if you say “no gifts” people will still feel obligated to do so.
Why not just throw a party? Don’t mention the birthday angle. Since the actual birthday is not even close, why bother with the theme?
I’m sure the kid got an appropriate celebration at home, cake and whatever. So now just have a “party” for all his friends for “no reason.”
I agree with some of the other posters - give the party in a couple of weeks once school starts. No 1/2 birthday explanations, and most kids don’t have the party right on their birthdays unless it’s a weekend.
Lots of people in my family have late August birthdays. And, while it’s true that there’s kind of a dearth of school friends, there are other friends. That’s kind of a lame excuse not to have a party on or close to the actual birthday date, IMO. I would give people a pass if the actual birthday was within a week of Xmas but other than that, I’d think it was strange.
Of course we had the situation that a lot of kids whose parties we’d attended throughout the year couldn’t come, but, oh well. The birthday’s when it is. There are downsides to almost every date (except Halloween; why didn’t I try for that as a birth date?) and you deal with it.
I can see two sides to this. On the one hand, you’re offering a party to people whose parties your kid has attended. On the other hand, you’re after gifts from people whose kids you gifted. Or that’s how it could look.
Yes, I think it is strange to have a half-birthday party. I also think it’s strange that he’s never had a real party. He doesn’t have friends in the summer?
I guess I never understood inviting non-family to a birthday party. I must be old. Mom would make my favorite meal and cake and I’d get a couple of presents.
I suppose it’s what kids expect as a function of what kind of party their friends get today.
The sprog’s birthday is August 1, so it’s not that close to the start of the school year. His friends are still going to camp and on vacation, and a few of them visit non-custodial parents for the summer. IIRC, there were at best three or four kids still around at the end of July/beginning of August.
That being said, my own birthday is at the end of June, so I’ve been through this myself. It’s tough to be one of the few who doesn’t get the big birthday party and the attention and fuss that goes along with it. He’s also 8, so he’s at the age where he’s acutely aware of what he’s missing out on.
And, frankly, I would have no problems with a “please donate to charity” policy, if it came down to that. Between his birthday and the holidays, he gets plenty of toys and clothes. He doesn’t need any more.
When my son was birthday party age a friend of his with a summer birthday threw a party every year on the last day of school. (I realize this doesn’t help the OP for this year), and also another one who had a Halloween party every year. I don’[t know if they continued beyond 5th grade because the boys went to different middle schools.
My partner and I have the same birthday, so we get two half-cakes, each with the appropriate number of candles (one for each decade, not year).
I’ve been trying to make my sister understand what a great idea the non-birthdate birthday party is since her youngest was born. Not only is she a summer baby (so when she hits school age, she’ll run into similar issues) but she was born on the 4th of July. Sorry, I don’t want to go to your toddler’s lame birthday party when I have beer to drink and food to grill.
Go for it. And I agree with the poster who said it’s not a gift-grab unless you’re doing it on top of a “real” birthday party and inviting all the same guests. That would be lame, but that’s not what you’re doing. Make sure you explain to parents what’s going on though.
That is awesome.
I like the idea of a half-birthday party. It’s fun to have excuses for parties. It even makes a lot of sense in the situation where you don’t have a normal birthday party. But I wouldn’t even have a problem with someone having both as long as it’s clear it’s not a present grab.
But I am concerned about one thing. If you call it a half birthday party, the other kids may think they should be entitled to a half birthday and a real birthday. While, obviously, that’s the parents’ concern, you don’t want to do this if the parents would think it would create problems.
I do not think you should just have a regular party, though. A birthday party is fundamentally different, even without the gifts. It’s a bigger deal, and your kid is being celebrated. If you want to give him a birthday party experience, it needs to be a birthday party experience.
I also knew a woman who had a son born on December 24. He too got sort of screwed over with the “this is a combined birthday/Christmas gift for you” from the family.
So, every July 15th (coincidentally my birthday as well) she would hold his half birthday party - the whole shebang. Cake, ice cream, gifts, big party…
She figured it was fun for him, perfect in the summer when he was out of school, an excuse to have his friends over and the kid loved it.
Besides, I am not a religious person but isn’t December 25th actually the wrong birthday of that boy named Jesus? I believe they have calculated his real birth date to be in October or something? Figure if he can celebrate a few months later/earlier, why not anybody else?
I don’t understand the problem. Why does school have to be in session for the invites to go out and come back? There’s email and Facebook and all that shit. Presumably the sprog doesn’t need school to be in session to know who he wants to invite.
It also seems to me that it shouldn’t be that hard to find a weekend during the summer when most of the sprog’s friends are in town. If he’d like to invite 10 friends but the best you can do is to find a weekend when only 8 of them can make it, it’s hardly a tragedy.
As a second party with a different group, I think this is a great idea.
If he goes to the birthday parties of his friends and classmates, this can also be a teaching moment on the importance of reciprocal hospitality.
Bad idea. My brother was born on Christmas Day, and one year the parents decided they’d do one of these. It was a disaster, and totally didn’t work. My bro hated the idea ever afterwards.
It’s not my party, but I’d try to round up the neighborhood kids anyway. Maybe you could postpone it a week or so, so it’s a little closer to the start of school?
How old is your little one? I’d have it, but, depending on the kid’s age, you might avoid putting it on the invitation that it’s a half-birthday party. When people get there, you could have cake and all and explain that it’s a half-birthday party and hand out goodie bags, but if you want to avoid the gift-grab feel, just don’t tell people that’s why you’re having it until they get there.