Two Parents and a Birthday Party? Never
I had a slightly out-of-the-ordinary request on a birthday party invite this week: “To keep the ratio more kids to adults, we suggest only one parent accompany one’s toddler.”
With the mom heavily pregnant, and their daughter’s last birthday party plenty massive, I could totally understand the request. It did get me thinking, however, about how rare it is that I see TWO parents attend a birthday party with their kids anyway.
In fact, the last time I saw a large cluster of kids with both parents in tow at a birthday party just so happened to be at this particular child’s party. No wonder her parents are throwing this out there - they’d love to throw a simple party just like everyone else!
It’s age-dependent, of course, but I’ve found that by and large at least one parent will stick around at a kid’s birthday party to keep track of their own kid. Not doing so is even more considerate than tromping in with a pile of siblings that the hosts know have to feed and entertain. But there seems to be some sort of unwritten rule that unless these are close friends or relatives, the invitation is kid-specific. Which means parents aren’t really invited so much as they are expected to appear . . . and stay on the sidelines.
The party is, after all, about the kids.
I confess we’re part of that one-parent-to-a-party system anyway, so the request didn’t bother me. My husband has attended just two children’s parties with me in the four years since our daughter was born (not including hers, of course). One was a family party, the second a close friend. The greater share of other parties have been thrown by people I’m closer to, so I’ve been the natural chaperone, and he’s never batted an eye at my decision to go it alone.
Do you attend kid’s parties as a family?
Image: SAKids
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Tags: birthday, birthday parties, chaperone, Jeanne Sager, parents, Playdate, siblings
9 Comments
laure68 commented on Jul 17 09 at 5:10 pmWow, I have never thought of this. For all my child’s birthday parties (he is 3), we mostly had both parents attend, and we always go together to other kids’ parties. At this age, before preschool, mostly it is our friends we are inviting anyway. I can see this changing once he goes to school and has his own set of friends.
Robyn commented on Jul 17 09 at 5:57 pmFor most parties, I would be offended if only one parent were invited. No, my husband doesn’t always attend birthday parties, but he often does, as he likes to socialize too.
Toy Kitchen commented on Jul 17 09 at 7:08 pmAs our kids are still 6 and younger, the parties are painfully loud and obnoxious, so my wife typically goes for the both of us. God love her!
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Amanda commented on Jul 17 09 at 7:45 pmI have spent many of the parties as the only parent with my daughter because of my boyfriends work schedule. More recently he has gone with me and my daughter but it like pulling teeth. Unless it is family i give up and will just be going with my daughter.
Marj commented on Jul 17 09 at 7:57 pmIt seems like more parents would be better because there would be more crowd control.
Momma commented on Jul 18 09 at 10:15 amNot once in 8 years has my husband ever attended a birthday party.
PlumbLucky commented on Jul 18 09 at 12:35 pmHmmmm…never gave this much thought because the munchkin is pretty little and the only parties we’ve gone to for young children have been family (so thus our entire fam is invited)
Bean's Mom commented on Jul 19 09 at 9:03 amWell, my child is only 2 years old, but so far we my husband and I have attended all children’s birthday parties together. We look forward to the opportunity to meet new parents (we are new to town) and we also enjoy seeing how our daughter interacts with other children in a party setting. At our daughter’s 2 year old party, all of the six child guests were accompanied by both parents.
Anonymous2 commented on Jul 19 09 at 4:57 pmMy husband and I typically both accompany our daughter to birthday parties. My husband is at work all week, so we’re loathe to give up a perfectly good Saturday afternoon together. We try to stay on the sidelines, though. At our daughter’s last birthday party, we made it clear on the invitation that both parents were welcome.
