Anonymous wrote:There are few different things entwined in the problem and it is not matter of rude or not rude
but just matter of being able to find some common ground and make it easier and enjoyable
on everyone:
1. Hosting parents often have limited budget.
2. Invited parents often have more then one children and also limited budget and options
for childcare.
To solve it there are few civilized options and there is no one size fits all
1. Demanding on a hosting parent to pay for anyone and everyone is not the matter
of rudeness, it is lack of ability to understand that not everyone can afford
extra child to be hosted. If they could they most likely would invite more BDay
child.
2. While nobody can educate the whole world to those simple two sides
of the story that not everyone can afford to pay extra and not everyone
can just leave kid behind this needs to be worked on case by case situation.
3. If you are a host - always spell upfront what the rules are so the people
ho have extra kids and no founds or option to store them elsewhere will have option.
Just say on the invitation what those rules are:
- are they welcome?
- or not?
- or they are but the parents will be responsible for the extra fees caused by this
4. If you are a invitee, you need to realize that b.day party is like going
to the movies, it is not free, every extra child cost extra so imposing
this charge on the unsuspecting host is not exact fair, unless of course
they spelled it upfront. You should not only ask if it is okay to bring
extra child but also be ready to offer to cover the extra cost.
5. Not all parents want to have the younger sibling in the mix during
the event. Not all older kids like other little kids participating because
this frankly might ruin the whole event for the celebrant.
The B. Kid is who it is about and this should be respected.
6. There is always or most of the time a drop off option so for those
who have extra kids, they can just drop off and leave, go to the store
next door etc. Use t his option instead of making it difficult on everyone
if you can not afford to pay for your little one and if they host family
is not wealthy enough to invite the whole world and pay for them.
I agree with all your points but especially #5. Having younger (or older) siblings there can change the dynamic. There are the parents who think it’s adorable that their 3 year old is “playing with the big kids” in the soccer game or whatever activity it is, but it’s not. Same with older kids who can take over and dominate. Or the parents who use the opportunity to socialize and don’t watch their younger child and the host is left to look after the kid (happened to me when the mom had to take a work call outside for 30 minutes and I was left to watch her daughter while I was supposed to be serving food and cake. This was for a 7 year old’s party and drop off was stated on the invitation). I’m excluding siblings not because I care that much about serving an extra slice of cake or a goody bag, but because my son wants *his* friends at his party—not his friend’s 3 year old sister or another friend’s 10 year old brother.
FWIW, I do always pay extra for the envelope lining on Evite where you can put the invited child’s name and before that was an option I paid for Paperless Post. I also put the invited child’s name instead of the parent’s name or email address. That wasn’t clear enough so I started including “unfortunately we are unable to accommodate siblings due to space limitations”. I *still* got multiple requests asking if siblings could come. I felt like the a**hole saying no, but if I said yes to one I’d have to say yes to them all and that would change the dynamic of the party. I offered to provide a ride if that was the issue (it was a drop off party) and I got a few responses that thanked me but that wasn’t the issue—their kids get upset when one goes to a party and the other can’t. Uh, sorry, get a handle on that.