Birthday Party for Step Daughter

We had the same issues this year for my daughters 9th birthday party. The day before the party I started calling my friends who had kids about the same age to see if any of them could come because I was worried noone would come. I got my daughter to ask her friends for their phone numbers so I could call after school. But the morning of the party parents started calling, we ended up having all the girls come except one.
I would get her to get the phone numbers from her friends now if possible and call all the parents personaly. They might just have forgoten. Hope it goes well.

You need to call the parents yourself....around here, no one rsvp's :-) another good rule for any party is if you want 4 friends, invite 8-10 and 4-5 will say yes :-) hope things work out ok.

I would say send another note. But in future invite 3 times as many as you expect to show up. They won't all rsvp or come. You'll end up with exactly the number of kids you want.

I had a simulay situation for my sones this past weekend and the guest didn't reserve by phone untile the day before. Was a bit irritating and we had already paied for the skating rink time~
I also had this happen 1 year ago and called the school and asked for the numbers and said that i was planning a surprise for the child and needed the phone numbers of the parents or at leist the parents first and last name so I could do a phone book search leaving the school out of privacy laws.
you can also go to the school and take to the teacher personally and tell her you need to get in touch with these parents.
Good luck and if nothing else and nobody comes then take a cake or cupcake cake to her school close the the end of the day the kids love it and the teacher doesn't mind just let her know you are doing it.
Good luck!

move your butt and get those numbers...this is important and she will never forget what you do....

I feel for your step daughter. There is nothing worse than inviting a bunch of kids and finding out no one is going to show. I rented the local Aquariums party room and my son invited 10 kids from school to come and only one child showed up, and that was my husbands little sister. I spent all that money for just us when I could have just taken them two to the aquarium then out to eat and had a dessert alot cheaper. If your step daughter is not okay with going out maybe have a cookout with friends and family and maybe let her have one or two girls spend the night. Or go ahead with the plans with having a dinner with the family and have her call the friend she has that might come to the movies and instead of renting the room just take them to the movies. I always tell my son, for the money I waist on the birthday parties I could spend on him for something better. I hope it works out for you all, Good luck.

send a reminder note to the parents. unfortunately, people have gotten lost on the road of consideration and manners.

I would try to reach all parents and confirm how many you have attending. I agree that I would cancel the party room. You may want to introduce another idea to your daughter, all girls love to be pampered, if only one is planning to attend, take her and your daughter for a manicure and have their nails painted and then to lunch and a movie. They will both feel special and I am sure they will have had a great day!

D.

T.
If I were you I would just tell her that the party at the movies has been canceled due to no one getting back to you on who will show up.. And just fix her (at home) a dinner that she like and have cake afterwards.. and that will teach her to comunitate with you if she wants things.. I have a step son that used to do the same thing.. until I put my foot down and planed everything myself.. I dont know how old she will be but my step son tryed it til he was 14 and now he gets with me and plans the event with me by giving me names and #s to everyone and get a true count of who is going to be there and who is not.. I hope this advice helps in your time of need..

T.,
I don't know how old she is but I would not waste anymore time on this party that she wanted. I take it she maybe around 8-10years old. I have a step son and the same goes for him.We did a party for him one time and no one showed up but 2 boys from the neighborhood.Ever since then we would ask him if he doesn't say anything by then there is no party no nothing for him. Kids that age needs to understand and take soe responsibilty on their own action. I know it is a little harsh but step kids are not easy to deal with.
who knows if she even handed out the invitation, if they were her friends she would have their number. I would ask my stepson to get some of his freinds phone numbers just in case.and he only had 5 numbers.
Cancelled the party and still take her to the movies. and let her know in the future she needs to let you know ahead of time.
DON'T STRESS OVER THIS.

Have your step-daughter go to the friends she invited and just ask "Are you able to come to party this weekend?

You may not ever get a response from the parents, even if you send another note to the girls. Who knows if the invites ever made it home from the classroom. I think if you want to know what's going on you need to contact the parents yourself- are they in the phone book or is there a school directory you could get, or maybe just the school office could give you the phone numbers?

As for the party itself, you potentially have 4 girls coming to the party. Renting the birthday room at the theater sounds like a lot for 4 guests. Why not go to the movie with whomever shows, then take them to dinner or just to dessert at a restaurant to open presents. Then you're set with a plan regardless of how many girls show up.

In the future, maybe you need to give your step-daughter a concrete deadline for when she has to tell you what she wants- show her the day on the calendar and remind her that the day is approaching. Tell her that if she doesn't have an idea by that day, you'll come up with something. Also, she may need some help coming up with an idea. Maybe it would help her (and you in the planning) to sit down one day and think about it together. You could make it a whole activity getting her involved in the planning of the party. Or, if she tells you two weeks before her birthday that she wants something that requires more planning, tell her you can do that but it can't be on her birthday because you need more time to prepare and tell her how long after her birthday she'll have to wait.

Ask your step daughter to get the other girl's phone numbers and then you can call the parents when she gets home from school. I find birthday parties SO stressful. It is typical that parents don't call to RSVP. I usually end up calling. Good Luck!

Since you do not know the phone # or address of the friends, write up a note and have your daughter take it to the friends she previously invited. Just say that your daughter had sent home an invitation with their child and that you had not heard back from them if they were planning to attend and could they please call you that evening. If you dont hear back from them, then assume they arent planning to attend and make alternate plans. If they show up at the party location, then bad on them for not responding to EITHER of your requests.

Wow, what a predicament you're in! Honestly, I would let the theater know that you no longer wish to rent the birthday room. I would however, still take her to the movies even if it is just you and her. My daughter attends Irmo Elementary and they have distributed a phonebook with all of the children's names, addresses and phone numbers listed. You may possibly check with your step-daughter to see if the school she attends has one....it could definitely help you out!