What about when they are twins? My son has a surprising number of friends who are twins. Usually he is truly friends with one but they are all in the same grade so he definitely knows the twin and is sometimes is friendly with the twin sibling even though that isn't the primary friendship. Is it in poor taste to bring just one gift in that case? As I type this, I'm feeling cheap . . . . So I guess I know my answer.

We did a semi-joint party, at a rec center. Older girl had her friends inside the activity she chose (longer time), younger brother had his friends at the picnic table make two quick things, then they played on the playground. Everyone crammed into the party room for juice, cupcakes and ice cream. The only families who brought 2 gifts were the families who had children invited to both portions of the party.

Nope. Only the kid your child is friends with gets a gift.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And definitely don’t bring your other kid. Their guest list will already be huge.

See, this is exactly the situation where I think it would be appropriate for the hosts to extend the invite to siblings. It's already going to be chaotic with children of different ages/abilities/interests. Do people do this to save money?

It doesn't matter whether you think that's the appropriate time to invite siblings. Who knows what the host's constraints are (money, space, enough adults to help). If you are in this situation, you can invite siblings (I would too, by the way), but if it's not your party, just do as you're asked.

OP here. Obviously I'm not bringing my other kid. It was a reference to the two other threads about bringing siblings to bday parties. You're free to unclench.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And definitely don’t bring your other kid. Their guest list will already be huge.

See, this is exactly the situation where I think it would be appropriate for the hosts to extend the invite to siblings. It's already going to be chaotic with children of different ages/abilities/interests. Do people do this to save money?

In our case, when we did joint birthday parties we explicitly said that siblings were welcome. We had rented a large space and paid for entertainment so more kids would not have made a difference. We did it so that we would not have to throw two birthday parties in 1 month... it is a lot of work and also so that neither one of my kids would have been jealous because one got present and the other one didn’t. It was a very expensive birthday party (at least for us $700) and I think we would have spent the same for 2 smaller events somewhere else

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And definitely don’t bring your other kid. Their guest list will already be huge.

See, this is exactly the situation where I think it would be appropriate for the hosts to extend the invite to siblings. It's already going to be chaotic with children of different ages/abilities/interests. Do people do this to save money?

It doesn't matter whether you think that's the appropriate time to invite siblings. Who knows what the host's constraints are (money, space, enough adults to help). If you are in this situation, you can invite siblings (I would too, by the way), but if it's not your party, just do as you're asked.

I have done shared birthday parties for my kids that were born the same month, but two years apart and always sent two separate invitations. I think our guests only realized that we were celebrating both kids once They arrived at the party

Anonymous wrote:And definitely don’t bring your other kid. Their guest list will already be huge.

See, this is exactly the situation where I think it would be appropriate for the hosts to extend the invite to siblings. It's already going to be chaotic with children of different ages/abilities/interests. Do people do this to save money?

And definitely don’t bring your other kid. Their guest list will already be huge.

No, you don’t have to. I often bought a shareable gift in that type of situation like a game or outdoor toy.

No!
I did this once because my kids were born at the same time, but years apart. I specifically sent two different invitations to each set of friends to avoid confusion.

I just realized a party coming up for my kid's preschool classmate is a joint party with the kid's older brother too. Do I have to buy a gift for both the kids or just the one my kid goes to school with?

I will resist the urge to bring my other, non-invited kid.