Do not bring a sibling to a birthday party?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always rsvp no to any party that doesn’t include siblings. DH works on weekends and I’m not hiring a babysitter for a birthday party.

You should RSVP no in this case. The host family shouldn't have to pay for another kid because you are too cheap to pay for a babysitter.

If it was my party I would be happy if this person asked instead. Sometimes there is extra space, or she may just have to pay a fee depending on the location.

[Anonymous]

This problem completely goes away once your kid goes to drop off parties.

[Anonymous]

I’m having a party for my 11yo. It would be odd for a younger or older sibling who isn’t my child’s friend to be coming to his party.

Very different situation if kids were 5 years old.

[Anonymous]

I have a first grader in a small DCPS. Every party has explicitly included siblings. It's a very international crowd and no one has done anything overly fancy (in fact the fanciest party had explicit activities for younger siblings).

There is the DCUM average culture and then there is the rest of the world with many different ways to slice the birthday cake. Many of us from non anglo-cultures would not dream of having a party where numbers are limited because it's too expensive to include people. But obviously other cultures find it completely fine. You have to find out what kind of party each particular kid is having.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a first grader in a small DCPS. Every party has explicitly included siblings. It's a very international crowd and no one has done anything overly fancy (in fact the fanciest party had explicit activities for younger siblings).

There is the DCUM average culture and then there is the rest of the world with many different ways to slice the birthday cake. Many of us from non anglo-cultures would not dream of having a party where numbers are limited because it's too expensive to include people. But obviously other cultures find it completely fine. You have to find out what kind of party each particular kid is having.

Lmao, the activities themselves were not explicit! Only the fact that there would be some activities for younger kids was.it

[Anonymous]

How old was the birthday child turning and where was the party?

I find it really depends on the venue and family culture.

[Anonymous]

I was at a park party for a three year old with plenty of siblings. I think that makes most sense with this age group — a lot of the siblings were infants so it’s not like they were eating anything anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This problem completely goes away once your kid goes to drop off parties.

I LOVE drop-off parties! I slow to a roll and kick my kid out of the car and speed away, tossing the gift out of the sunroof.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m having a party for my 11yo. It would be odd for a younger or older sibling who isn’t my child’s friend to be coming to his party.

Very different situation if kids were 5 years old.

Totally different situation since it’s a drop off party for an 11 yr old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always rsvp no to any party that doesn’t include siblings. DH works on weekends and I’m not hiring a babysitter for a birthday party.

You should RSVP no in this case. The host family shouldn't have to pay for another kid because you are too cheap to pay for a babysitter.

Eh, yeah, PP. That what I just said - I always RSVP no.

[Anonymous]

Parents should indicate if siblings (or the whole family) is welcome on the invite. I would not assume siblings are welcome if nothing is explicitly stated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just because people did it doesn't mean the host wasn't silently fuming. I made the mistake ONCE of forgetting/not knowing I had to put "Unfortunately we can not accommodate siblings" and like ten siblings showed up. I was gracious but later that night needed to seriously vent to my husband about it. I KNOW that in some cultures you bring the whole family but that's not the case in mine, and not the case for the majority of the people invited.

Those people had NO IDEA how annoyed I was.

Parents do this because they know there is no consequence. I have told parents that siblings are not invited and are not on invitation list and will not be allowed to attend. I do not care if they are embarrassed. One woman said if her other three kids could not come then neither could the invited kid and she would take him and his present. I told her fine, brought her child and present to her, said goodbye and closed door. Apparently, word got around because no one else ever brought an uninvited sibling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just because people did it doesn't mean the host wasn't silently fuming. I made the mistake ONCE of forgetting/not knowing I had to put "Unfortunately we can not accommodate siblings" and like ten siblings showed up. I was gracious but later that night needed to seriously vent to my husband about it. I KNOW that in some cultures you bring the whole family but that's not the case in mine, and not the case for the majority of the people invited.

Those people had NO IDEA how annoyed I was.

Parents do this because they know there is no consequence. I have told parents that siblings are not invited and are not on invitation list and will not be allowed to attend. I do not care if they are embarrassed. One woman said if her other three kids could not come then neither could the invited kid and she would take him and his present. I told her fine, brought her child and present to her, said goodbye and closed door. Apparently, word got around because no one else ever brought an uninvited sibling.

My friend once had a party at one of those trampoline parks. It is a huge place and can accommodate a lot of kids. So many families brought siblings. The party rooms were already booked so she told everyone to meet at a nearby restaurant. Multiple families brought the entire family to this restaurant. The friend was a gracious host just she was definitely thinking WTF. She later told me that some families called the other parent and extended family to join. The party ended up taking up like the entire restaurant and instead of just pizza, families were ordering full dinners off the menu. You can’t even make this stuff up. Some people are just so rude. I wonder if they really are that clueless.

We are family friends and she specifically invited both my kids and my husband. She said we were the only family she invited the sibling but everyone brought siblings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always rsvp no to any party that doesn’t include siblings. DH works on weekends and I’m not hiring a babysitter for a birthday party.

You should RSVP no in this case. The host family shouldn't have to pay for another kid because you are too cheap to pay for a babysitter.

Eh, yeah, PP. That what I just said - I always RSVP no.

So when do you schedule your own child’s parties since weekends are out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always rsvp no to any party that doesn’t include siblings. DH works on weekends and I’m not hiring a babysitter for a birthday party.

You should RSVP no in this case. The host family shouldn't have to pay for another kid because you are too cheap to pay for a babysitter.

Eh, yeah, PP. That what I just said - I always RSVP no.

How old is your child? If not drop off age, it is ok to ask if you can bring a sibling.

When my husband was deployed, I would say my husband was deployed and if there was space for sibling and it was always yes. These were classmate parties and not all classmates can come.

I have also been asked am I sometimes would tell the parent I would let them know if there was space closer to the party date. This was the truth and reasonable.

If child is drop off age, you could just drop off.