Maybe the birthday boy doesn't like your kid. Maybe he feels like since she plays on her own she doesn't like him. Maybe you stepped on the mom's foot once and didn't apologize. Maybe she has Mommy Brain and forgot you. Maybe someone else doesn't like you and told the mom you'd be out of town so you wouldn't get an invite.

Maybe five hundred things. I'd let it go.

OP did you really have to ask if "This is the birthday boy?", if yes then you really don't know the mom or the boy to expect an automatic invite to his party. Just because you all go to the park at the same time doesn't mean you are all friends. Especially if that is the only time you see the boy or his mother. bumping into her at the grocery store doesn't count.

Yeah, I'd be a bit hurt. Should include everyone if the party will be at the place you all hang out at anyway! On the other hand, you got to attend the party in a an awkward way without bringing a gift... there's a bright side!

Yes, but the only problem with that is: as a non-invited one, you do not know how many were invited and who were not. So, you can't tell yourself, "Oh well, they only invited 5 people, no biggie, it wasn't personal." All you know, on our end of things, is that you (or, more accurately, your DC) was not invited. You don't know who else was and who wasn't. So you, in the absense of any other information, wonder why. Shrug. OH well.

Unfortunately, other than being discreet about invites (not handing them out in class or at practice, leaving them in cubbies) there's not much you can do about that. I am sure it is hard for a kid who was not invited to understand, because they probably don't fully grasp the concept that there are monetary and space limitations, and it isn't always possible to invite every child, even if you like them and their families just fine. Hopefully most parents can understand that, though.

Meh, I think it's usually a stab at parents trying to saying "see how awesome we are! We invited you even when you didn't care abouts us. please like me, please like my kid!"

Maybe for some people. not for me. I honestly don't care much if a random parent likes me, and my kid seems to be very well-liked by his peers, as far as I can tell. I would honestly not want the theoretically uninvited kid to feel bad, even if his parents are jerks. It isn't the kid's fault, they're just a kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But in this case, it was this child's entire class and soccer team that were invited as far as I could tell, and my son is part of both those subgroups

Yes, it is not nice to exclude only one or two kids. Not sure why it is relevant whether the child's dad in your case was a "closeted gay."

Because I sense they are fake people, that's why. I have many gay friends and family members and there's not much I respect less than people who live a lie. I worked for one.

That's not your business. Are you planning on outing him now or something??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the impulse to continue to invite kids who excluded your kids. They showed that they don't view your child as a sufficiently close friend (or whatever) to invite, so why should you do the same?

Because it's rude to invite most, but not all, of the kids in a particular playgroup. Just because the excluder was rude doesn't mean that you get to be in return.

Meh, I think it's usually a stab at parents trying to saying "see how awesome we are! We invited you even when you didn't care abouts us. please like me, please like my kid!"