I’m about to send out invitations for a school function. It’s a parent/daughter thing, and I have it all set to go, but someone suggested I say parent/step-parent/daughter, just so it would be perfectly clear that, well, step-parents are invited too. I find the wording awkward, but the sentiment is fine. Can anyone think up a word or words that sounds better than parent/step-parent?
primary-caregiver-regardless-of-biological-relationship/larva?
What’s the whole sentence?
Would it be bad if siblings showed up? You could invite girls and their families.
“Guardians” is a good catch-all and pretty standard.
Is it really an issue? I would have thought that the word “parent” would be taken by most people to mean “biological parent,” “adoptive parent,” “step-parent,” “foster parent,” “guardian,” or “older adult of indeterminate relationship acting in loco parentis” for any situation in which a blood test was not required to establish paternity or maternity.
I would think that simply putting “parent” on the invitations, then making sure that the kids were told that “parent” means any of the above relationships would handle the situation.
OTOH, I am neither likely to take umbrage nor to exclude myself because a good faith invitation did not directly address my personal situation, so I might be the wrong one to comment, here.
I agree with tomndebb … but thought I might suggest “parent or other special adult” as nice. My husband is my children’s stepfather, and I would never think that he was excluded in any invitation to a parent.
I didn’t think it would be a problem. I thought Parent clearly implied step-parent. Someone else didn’t and thought it important to be added.
If you really think it might be an issue, you could put a footnote at the bottom of the page. Something like: “Parent includes primary care giver.”
Primary care giver is my doctor. I think.
Someone made a suggestion. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. And if it’s not, you need to, having given it due consideration, move on.
I’ve run into problems like this often. You needn’t write so that yor intent is 100% crystal clear to everyone, particularly when there is no elegant solution and the writing suffers as a whole.
This is an easy one: go with “parent”. As other’s have pointed out, it really does say precisely what you intend.
Methinks that your friend has a bit of a slipped cog. When she says parent/step-parent/daughter, why did she leave out step-daughter?
By sheer force of words being, well, words, the parent part of step-parent means PARENT.
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I don’t know why I said "she,"since sex wasn’t specified in the OP.
Perhaps ol’ hh slipped a cog himself.
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“Parent” should be sufficient in the context of the invitation. Any step-parent that feels excluded or offended has an insecurity issue. If anyone is uncertain about their parental status (i.e., a step-parent, grandparent or other primary guardian), let them ask for clarification individually.
Actually, it is spelled stepparent, I looked it up. I agree with everyone here. It is wordy and redundant to put that in. I have decided to ignore the suggestion, just as I have ignored most of the “suggestions” given to me re: this invitation. The “committee” asked for volunteers, I volunteered, and now they are critiqueing the hell out of it. I am more than a little annoyed. We are not talking peace treaty here. It is an invitation, and I am literate.
That sounds familiar; we always have a small group write the fundraising letter for our library and then bring it to the complete board to review. I had to stop myself mid-sentence in critiquing for more than spelling/grammar; after all, I didn’t volunteer for it and I need to respect the time they took and decisions they made.