| I'm white Latino (grew up in Bethesda) and invite the kid only but when the whole family shows up and asks if the other kids can participate (I.e. Laser tag) I just smile and say "sure, of course!" My much more Latin dark husband (grew up in NYC ghetto) has an absolute shit fit when the family shows up (not to their face, more to me). |
I'm African and we have a similar habit among people from my country. When my friend was getting married, the Americans got a different invitation. The wedding was to start at 1pm, everyone who was non-African got an nivite stating 1pm and the rest of us got one for 11.30. The sad thing is that some Africans came waltzing in at 1p and I had a good laugh. The problem is when you get there early and wait for the late comers, it will still be frowned upon if you leave "early". Nobody will care that you showed up on time. |
| Hispanic is a HUGE category that encompasses a large number of sub cultures. Not every subculture celebrates the same way. In some, entertaining guests at a restaurant is acceptable as the home is reserved for family, godparents, etc. In others, not inviting someone to your home is something of an insult because it implies you are not close so why invite you? |
This! I'm part Cuban. My Dominican friend is always telling me that I'm doing something wrong. And our other friend from El Salvador insists we are both wrong. I'm sure we could ask another Latina and get a fourth opinion. And that's just re:cooking. |
| Some people are more inclusive than others. |
I live in Southern Europe and siblings are also always invited to birthday parties, as are parents. Of course birthday parties are usually just held at the local park or someone's apartment. Another thing that shocks me when I go home to the US is kids parties where the invite says what time the party begins and ends. Here, it's considered rude to tell people it's time to leave a party and I agree. |
Yes, but here people have venue parties where you have to be out at a certain time so the next party can come through. Also, people drop off their kids and need to know when to come back |
Um, it's called a cultural thing. Not all Hispanics do quinceaneras, but most do -- because it's part of the culture. |
| I love Hispanic anything, birthday parties, Christmas parties, etc. There is always enough food (never having enough food drives me crazy about how cheap people can be), people are so friendly and in a great mood, lots of smiles, no one is a stranger, etc. I have some Hispanic relatives by marriage and I find everything about their parties warm and fun. |
When we were home last time, my daughter was invited to a party held in someone's backyard which specified on the invite that it was from 2-4. So it was only 2 hours long. Some party. Also, there was barely any food. I had my kids outside the US so this just comes across as uptight and rude. My kids' birthday parties usually start at around 5 and go on until 10 or 11. While the kids destroy the apartment (or park for the one born in summer) we hang out with our friends and the kids' parents, drink beer and eat lots of food. We usually organize a few "exotic" for the locals American party games like pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs and maybe a pinada. No one has much money here so no one has venue parties here. Maybe rich people do we don't hang out with those types. Some of the older girls have started doing sleep overs and these are limited for obvious reasons. |
| But if the invite has only one child's name on it, one should not assume all siblings are invited. And don't be disappointed if I don't have enough cupcakes or party favors for the siblings that I didn't know you were going to bring. |