On 22 Sep 2016 at 2:03pm YummyMummy wrote:
To all parents of young children: Please help with some advice!
My child started primary school for the first time last week.
Her birthday is next week.
What is the etiquette involved in having her birthday celebrated now she is at school?
Do I have a party and invite the entire class? But this will be very expensive and we are not loaded by any means. And will it look like we're trying to be flash?!
Or do we not invite children from her class to a party and just have a family gathering? But then will other parents think of this as a snub? Will it mean that my daughter will spend the rest of the school year not being invited to any other children's parties?
The difficulty lies in her only having started school last week - she doesn't know anyone yet, hasn't had time to form any friendships yet, it's only been a week.
I don't want to bankrupt ourselves over a whole class party full of children she doesn't know yet. I don't want to make other parents feel that I haven't held a party at all thus making her (and me) unpopular. I can't ask her to select a few children because they're all new to her at the moment.
What do I do? I'm getting in a right old two and eight about it.
On 22 Sep 2016 at 3:00pm Dad wrote:
Kids remember the games, no need for swag. I was in the same boat.
Just get some sausage rolls, carrot sticks (make your own), crisps, bottle of squash and a cake (make your own). Cost: £10-15 tops. Skip the party bags. But make up some nice games.
Invite everyone same gender rather than whole class at that age.
Result - everyone happy, you not broke.
Good luck.
On 22 Sep 2016 at 5:03pm Earl of Lewes wrote:
I tried @Dad's approach when I was skint and it was a nightmare. The kids quickly lost interest in the games and when I realised that I'd reached the last activity with over an hour left before pick-up, my heart sank. So if you try this approach, try and include a trip to a park or playground. Don't do what I did, drinking Cava to get through it! At this age I think you either do nothing, which is actually fine if your kid doesn't mind, or you invite you whole class or all the boys/girls. I think you do have to give party bags - everyone expects them these days - but a trip to Poundland can really keep the cost down. After the nightmare of a party at home, we hired church halls from then on - quite cheap - and made all the food and games. I think girls' parties are easier because you can get them doing craft activities, whereas with boys there are always a few who just bounce off the walls. By eight, they seem to want best friends only, thank God. Whatever you do, good luck!
On 22 Sep 2016 at 6:08pm Old bike wrote:
Instead of party bags, try a book each. You can get sets of 10/15 for about £1 each. Maybe related to the current topic at school.
On 22 Sep 2016 at 10:14pm Dad with lots of kids wrote:
Invite 10 kids from the class, hire a magician for the hour, get the wife to make some party food and then you act as the games master for the next hour playing pass the parcel, musical chairs, statues etc. Kids love this, excite them, wind them up, feed them lots of sugar, kids love this sort of stuff and then let their parents deal with the aftermath.
On 23 Sep 2016 at 9:57am YummyMummy wrote:
DadWithLotsOfKids
Very good idea about a magician. But where do I get a children's magician from??? Do you know of any?
On 26 Sep 2016 at 1:59pm Oh come on wrote:
YummyMummy re a magician surely you have heard of Google.
On 26 Sep 2016 at 2:06pm Oh come on wrote:
Book Mr Pineapple Head. Hire a hall. Invite all the kids. Deal with the cost, it's worth it. Use Google to find the details.