Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the need/desire to make the day special for the uninvited child. A classmate is having a party and she wasn't invited, that shouldn't mean she has a private party to make up for it.
FWIW, there have been parties to which my child wasn't invited and since we (husband and I) didn't make a big deal about it, my child didn't see it as a big deal.
Agreed. Why would anyone think that it's unusual or wrong for a kid not to be invited to a party hosted by someone they're clearly not that close friends with? Is anyone here equally as good friends with all of their coworkers, or do most of us have at least a few people from work who are closer friends than the rest? The 'nice to eat lunch or grab coffee with during the workday' crowd (hopefully most of the office) versus the 'would invite over for drinks sometime' group (likely fewer people in most cases). It's not rude to decide who you enjoy spending time with, and it's unreasonable to expect that just being in the same class at school will make everyone the sort of friends who want to hang out outside of class. Nobody gets invited to everything all the time. That's life.
The key is that kids need to learn basic etiquette -- you don't discuss a private social event in front of anyone who was not invited. I agree that it's wrong to be rude and make a point of excluding people, but no one is obligated to socialize with anyone on their own time outside of a mandated situation such as work/school/scouts/a team/etc.