Are people doing birthday parties?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We recently had a small bounce house birthday party. Masks were required inside. We served food and even slices of cake (COVID doesn't transmit via food).

OP here. How many is small? My DC has 10 friends from outside and 10 in class all of which I was going to invite. Too big? Or ok? Assume not everyone will be able to make it.

I would personally split this party into 2 parties to have 2 small parties vs 1 big party.

I have 3 kids and had 3 fully masked outdoor parties in the spring. Each child had 5 friends.

We attended a party recently with 5 kids. Food was served and no masks.

Small outdoor parties seems like the way to go these days.

This is what we did, two parties with three kids each. For one the kids were in school together and the other was neighborhood friends. All outdoors, no masks (kids were a bit older and could easily distance), and my son had a great time.

[Anonymous]

We have a daughter in PreK and we've been attending class parties since about March. The first was in Arlington, so of course all of the parents were comparing notes on which vaccines we got. I love when my daughter has something to look forward to over the weekend.

For what it's worth, I avoid other situations like indoor dining and gyms.

[Anonymous]

We are in Arlington and are fine with outdoor parties unmasked. We were just at a small potluck and didn't think twice about sharing food.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t heard of one case from a bday party and I’ve been to a bunch since March.

[Anonymous]

20 is way too many. I would cut it down to 10-12. We are in Bethesda and I was going to make masks optional for an outdoor party but everyone showed up in masks and kids kept them on except while eating.

[Anonymous]

here is my issue: kid's birthday is next week and he just started at a new school. I feel bad not inviting friends to his birthday but he literally doesn't have any yet. I could invite friends from his old school but I don't really want to go backwards (had no intention of staying in touch with them otherwise). so i'm thinking just a family party with lots of fun. is that lame?

[Anonymous]

Outdoor parties, fine, and my kid will happily wear a mask. Indoor parties, we aren't going unless we know that all the parents are vaccinated, all their 12+ kids are vaccinated, and we know that their activities are consistent with our risk tolerance. So that means indoor events only where we know the other parents at least reasonably well, and not big ones. I wouldn't be okay with a bouncy house, because the kids are breathing heavily, in a very small confined space, and their masks are likely to slip off while they are jumping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:here is my issue: kid's birthday is next week and he just started at a new school. I feel bad not inviting friends to his birthday but he literally doesn't have any yet. I could invite friends from his old school but I don't really want to go backwards (had no intention of staying in touch with them otherwise). so i'm thinking just a family party with lots of fun. is that lame?

I mean, that's kind of lame, but a family party or just a fun activity is perfectly fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:here is my issue: kid's birthday is next week and he just started at a new school. I feel bad not inviting friends to his birthday but he literally doesn't have any yet. I could invite friends from his old school but I don't really want to go backwards (had no intention of staying in touch with them otherwise). so i'm thinking just a family party with lots of fun. is that lame?

I mean, that's kind of lame, but a family party or just a fun activity is perfectly fine.

It may be lame, but that's what we did for my elementary-aged daughter who started a new school.

[Anonymous]

Yes, we are going to birthday parties. I prefer outdoors, but will attend an indoor party with masks. This is a risk worth taking for me, particularly because the kids are in his school/classroom and he is seeing them on a regular basis already.

For my son's August birthday we held it at a pool and it was well attended. We kept it to maybe about 12 kids. It was perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:here is my issue: kid's birthday is next week and he just started at a new school. I feel bad not inviting friends to his birthday but he literally doesn't have any yet. I could invite friends from his old school but I don't really want to go backwards (had no intention of staying in touch with them otherwise). so i'm thinking just a family party with lots of fun. is that lame?

I’m going through the exact same thing. It’s always hard with September birthdays. I usually don’t invite the class because each year it’s been a whole new class but I think this year we will invite the class even tho we know no one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:here is my issue: kid's birthday is next week and he just started at a new school. I feel bad not inviting friends to his birthday but he literally doesn't have any yet. I could invite friends from his old school but I don't really want to go backwards (had no intention of staying in touch with them otherwise). so i'm thinking just a family party with lots of fun. is that lame?

I’m going through the exact same thing. It’s always hard with September birthdays. I usually don’t invite the class because each year it’s been a whole new class but I think this year we will invite the class even tho we know no one.

Wait a few weeks or a month so that he has time to make friends.

[Anonymous]

Hosting my DD's 8th bday party this coming Saturday. It's indoors at a kid art studio. We invited just the 11 girls from her class at school (so they are sort of a "pod" anyways), and 8 are coming. Drop off party so no adults hanging around. Masks required and in lieu of cake cutting, the kids will sing to DD and then take home a custom packaged cupcake. (I know covid doesn't transmit through food but I didn't want them to take masks off to eat inside.) I thought this was all pretty reasonable...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hosting my DD's 8th bday party this coming Saturday. It's indoors at a kid art studio. We invited just the 11 girls from her class at school (so they are sort of a "pod" anyways), and 8 are coming. Drop off party so no adults hanging around. Masks required and in lieu of cake cutting, the kids will sing to DD and then take home a custom packaged cupcake. (I know covid doesn't transmit through food but I didn't want them to take masks off to eat inside.) I thought this was all pretty reasonable...

Sounds reasonable to me, and I would have been happy to send my child. I hope you have fun!

[Anonymous]

How old is your child? Will they know that they aren't having a birthday or is the birthday mostly an excuse for you to get together with friends? Also, if your child is in preschool or school will you be mixing kids from a lot of different geographic areas or will it be a few kids who regularly mix anyway?

We haven't had any birthday parties for my 2 year old yet, because her first and second birthdays have taken place when COVID was high and many weren't vaxed. I don't think that she's missed out on anything. That said, we will have a third birthday for her unless things are really bad as she will definitely miss not having a birthday this year.

I would not do something indoors, but I think that a small group outside is probably fine. Parents can always opt out if they feel uncomfortable.