Originally Posted by
alien_host
I'm not implying that kids won't feel hurt or excluded, I get that, but I'm just saying that in some circumstances it might be impossible to include everyone or even all of one gender. I think that is REALITY these days and we as parents can prepare our kids for that disappointment. IMO it is not that different from playdates. I might not be able to invite each and every kid over to my house over the course of the year and last year there were some kids that did not get invited to my house and DD did not get asked to everyone's house either. The kids talked about Susie went to Janie's house etc, but I do think that they have the ability to understand that not everyone gets invited to everything.
I also think in K and 1st it is even harder for kids to just pick 1 or 2 friends. My DD likes everyone and fortunately we had the means to invite the whole class last year in Kinder. To be honest, I am DREADING this year's birthday because she has friends spread over two classes.
BOLD - I addressed that in the post right above yours and ITA with that.
Cross posted with your other one, but I agree... as they get older, this problem goes away.
I don't think anyone said that everyone had to be invited every time, but just pointing out that if it is possible inviting 1-2 extras to include everyone in a group (one gender, whole class, etc.) should be considered and sounds like it may have been overlooked by the OP initially.
I also think that some of the responses are mixing the original question of invitation distribution with the discussion around inviting only part of the class. Several people commented that their schools had policies that *if you hand out invites at school* they request the whole class or all of one gender be invited, otherwise get the invites out another way. ETA: I also think this is one of those topics that many people have opinions on, but IRL they aren't as passionate about them. I seriously don't really care that much how someone puts together their guest list unless they make a point to exclude and point that out, but I do have some personal opinions on how I would do it.
Last edited by o_mom; 10-13-2011 at 02:37 PM.
Mama to three boys ('03, '05, '07)