Birthday Party Advice - Palm Coast,FL

I say just his friends but give the invites before/after school. Then if anyone asks say due to finanical reasons you had to keep the guest list small. Finally, bring in some cupcakes, muffins, cake or something for the whole class to celebrate.

Hi M., if I were you, as someone else suggested, I'd get with the teacher and see what you can do to only invite your son's friends. The first I ever heard of this "you have to invite the whole class" thing when my kids were that age, I thought "okay, no big deal, we'll just have the party out in the yard with a bouncy house..." Ha! It was a disaster with a capital D! Most of the parents didn't even come in, and more than a few had the audacity to leave siblings as well...yes, even YOUNGER siblings! It was horrible and I would strongly urge you not to attempt it; either that, or have it at your local park and put on the invitation something to the effect of 'parents MUST stay with their child.' Even then, keep it short. (That's a lot of kids!!) Good luck, let us know what you do, V.

I have twin boys who turned 6 yesterday and they started kindergarten this year as well. They are in two seperate classes and I know the rule at their school is you have to either invite the entire class or all the boys or all the girls. You can invite only his friends but you would not be able to send the invitations through the school you would have to mail them. I ended up inviting all the boys which was 16 which is about the same as inviting the whole class. Their party is this Sunday and I don't expect all of the kids to show up but you never know! Good Luck!!!!

I think it is appropriate to invite the whole class. Probably a lot of kids will not come, but it really stinks at the elementary level when a kid gives out invitations and you are too young to not have hurt feelings. Clerly ask for RSVP so you do not plan on 18 and get 6 or the other way around.

Hi M.,
My son turned 6 in September and in his school if you what to invite certain people you give the invitations to the teacher and they staple it to their notebooks so that the parents can see it. Some schools have their own policy about giving invitations out. Your not obligated to invite the whole class especially if there is someone that your child doesn't get along with but if if they do then invite the whole class if he wants all of his friends there. Hope this helps. Good Luck.

Hi M.,
In our school district the policy is you have to invite everyone or no-one. We don't have much of a choice. Of course I have never had all of them turn up, thank the Lord.

I have had my daughter get the home phone numbers of the girls she wanted to invite and I have called their individual parents and got around it that way.

Good luck

M. F

Either way is fine, but if you are going to only invite the friends and exclude the others, you need to hand out the invitations AWAY from the school so the children (and parents) left out are not aware (or at least it's not in their face).

Hi M.,

I guess it depends on whether or not you can afford the expense of paying for the whole class and how important is it to (1)you and (2) your son to have the whole class. Personally for me, I'd opt to let him pick his closest friends and leave it at that. Some people make the party about the gifts and how many they will get. Just make sure your son knows he is loved and appreciated and that is all that really matters. : )

Hi M.,

My son's Kindergarten teacher had clearly suggested to either invite the whole class or just the boys (or girls if the bday child is a girl). Because my son wanted a few of the girls to come as well, I invited the whole class. 'Lucky' us, the entire class came except 2. So we were packed like sardines but the kids had a GREAT time! The kids were so excited because they all knew each other and were so excited to greet each friend as they came in the door. I did leg work to try and get responses from everyone so as to ensure I had enough pizza and goody bags. I'm sure all will go well, have a great time planning and on your son's special day!!

If you are sending the invites through the class then I would invite them all. But if you have phone numbers of certain kids or if you have some parents you could meet during pickup then I would pick and choose. I don't think it's fair to not do it and what are the chances that they will all attend? Statistically you invite double the number of people you want to get the number you hope for anyway. So definitely invite them all it stinks to be the kid who was left out and you gotta figure you wouldn't want your child's feelings hurt if the shoe were on the other foot. I would let the parents know ahead of time that you expect them to stay with the kids. Even though I think it's crazy to drop your child at someone's house and just take off if you aren't really good friends.

I would invite his close friends that he plays with the most, 18 kids is a lot and he might not know them all. I know the teachers are telling parents to invite all of them but I dont think so and if you want to invite your family then you will have a full house.

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good luck

If you feel you can handle all of them then feel free to invite them. I was always told to invite more than you wanted to attend because most of them won't show up anyway. If you invite 18 you might have 6 or 8 show up. My friend had a party for her son and invited the entire class and only one showed up for the party. Better to invite more and have some come then to invite less and end up with none of them there.

I think it is "PC" to invite the whole class, but honestly that's too much work. As long as you are sending invites directly to his friends, and not to them through school where there could be uncomfortable feelings, it shouldn't be a problem. Growing up, I always just as had a few friends over. It was easier for my mom to handle and we always had a great time. The one full class party I had was chaos. My children just have a few friends over too. The ones that they actually play with outside of school and enjoy hanging out with. Very few kids are actually more then just acquaintances with the majority of their class. The one time we invited his whole class, only his close friends showed anyway. His feelings were a little hurt that others didn't come.