My grandson is having his sixth birthday party this upcoming Saturday. My daughter handed out invitations to said party to all the boys in the class (about 10 kids give or take) three weeks ago, but thus far has only received 3 responses: two kids coming, one not.
Now we’re the new folks in town…I imagine many of the mums and kids know each other from kindergarten last year (or longer if they have older kids as well). But I’m a bit bloody pissed off that no-one has responded to the invitation regardless. We don’t know whether to cater for all the kids (on the offchance they just turn up) or change the venue from a local park to our own backyard if there’s only two kids coming.
I’m a veteran at this. OK, that’s a total lie: Ms Princhester is a veteran at this. Firstly, what Lord Feldon said. Time and time again when Ms P follows up with the mothers of my sons’ friends about an invitation they answer “uh, what invitation?” and it’s eventually found at the bottom of their kid’s school bag amongst the detritus of junk that accumulates there.
Ms P just contacts the other kids’ parents directly to follow up.
If your daughter can’t do that because you don’t have contact info then just see if she can do it at pick up/drop off. Or, as a last and probably ineffective resort ask the kids directly if they are coming (at age 6 they probably won’t know but you can try).
A certain percentage (maybe 20%) are just being rude, but many more will just be disorganised or haven’t even seen the invitation.
A friend of mine faced similar re her daughter’s birthday. She ended up calling the parents of every single friend invited. If she hadn’t I daresay the daughter never would’ve had a party.
I know it’s a bit late for this year - but maybe your daughter could suggest it to the school for next year? Those things are a godsend.
Around here a “no response” tends to mean they’re not coming, but social mores sometimes differ from town to town.
I would definitely suspect that some may be languishing at the bottom of school bags though. My Small Boy missed out on two birthdays that way last year.
Ah - the trauma of trying to plan a birthday party for your child. (With the related “Why wasn’t my kid invited?!”) Really sucks being a parent of a grade schooler, especially if your kid(s) are not traditionally “popular.”
Our kids are all grown now, but just the other day my wife and I were talking about something and she commented that, instead of planning kids’ parties, we wish we had thought of instead simply doing something special as a family to celebrate birthdays. Maybe packing up an elaborate picnic as a family, taking in a show, or a daytrip of the kid’s choosing. Would have had the multiple benefits of emphasizing our family unity/support, and minimizing the stress of depending on classmates and their parents.
Good luck. Times must have changed, or areas differ. Back in the 90s-early oughts, I though it was pretty routine to be sent home school directories - at least in elementary/middle school.
