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@gestalt: there’s a local museum that has the same train and in the room where it’s housed it’s 5 and under. I bet the age limit max is not just for safety, but also to keep the equipment looking nice.
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@SproutBee: There’s enough room for siblings and whole families since that seems to be the norm/ expectation (I don’t feel that way if DH can take LO to a party it doesn’t mean I have to go too), so I don’t mind siblings coming. The party is just not for them meaning the activities except for the corn hole is 100% geared toward things I know my son enjoys.
A couple people mentioned it, but I’ll definitely take the advice and trim the guest list to just little people that can participate in the main activity. That’s easy to explain if someone asks why they weren’t invited.
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I wouldn't attend with my 5 and 2 year olds if neither of them could even play. My 5 year old would be incredibly disappointed to go to a party where she couldn't do the activities and my 2 year old would be losing his shit if he couldn't participate.
I'd either loosen up and have everyone be responsible for their own kids or strictly only let the children that are in your approved age range attend.
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I was going to suggest on your earlier post that you cut down numbers a bit by addressing the daycare invites to the kids in the class only (ie, put their name on the evite).
I'm a parent of three girls close in age (all 2 years or less apart), and I have no problem telling them one or more of them isn't invited to a party - I'd just prefer to know in advance so I don't end up in a situation where I'm having to restrain one of them from the party activities because it turns out they really weren't on the guest list/the party isn't appropriate for them.
If you're inviting a whole class, I really don't think it's too big of a deal if some kids can't attend b/c their parents can't take them w/o siblings other than babies-in-arms. You'll still have a decent turnout.
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Is it accurate to state that people who get the invitation are not going to have the same amount of information we have on this forum? If so and I were invited to a party like this, I'd probably go out of obligation and bring however many kids I had (because it's a kid's party at a house, so they must be fine, right?).
I would then have a miserable time trying to keep my 15m DD away from the soft gym and bounce house. She would lose her mind if we were at a party where this stuff was set up but she wasn't allowed to be on it. Chalk and tattoos mean nothing to her, and she's just not quite old enough to understand that she's not big enough (at least without her trying it out first).
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Do you have any concept of how many kids have siblings outside the acceptable age range? If you don’t think there are *that* many, I might just keep quiet in the invitation and have a family member watch the equipment and remind kids to be gentle with each other and the equipment if things start getting out of hand.
ETA. I wouldn’t prevent anyone, no matter their age from playing on the equipment.
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Is it too late to cancel the jump house and go with another company? This seems like it will cause problems and I wouldn’t want to deal with it.
If I were invited to this party we would only attend if both parents are available to watch our 5 year old. If not, we wouldn’t come. I’m definitely not willing to constantly tell my 5 year old she can’t join in on a kids activity.
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If I was I invited to a 3 year old birthday party at someone's home, I would expect the whole family to be invited. If your invitation says siblings are welcome, I assume DH is also. I'm not taking everyone and leaving him at home. I WOH FT and the weekend is family time.
If I brought my family to the party and only one of my children was allowed to play on the main attraction, well...that sounds awful stressful and not relaxing. I would not come to future parties based on that experience.
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I’m so surprised to read that so many people assume an entire family is invited to a birthday party, I will definitely have to keep this in mind when we start doing friend parties.
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@Jennibenni: It definitely depends. If a daycare friend invited us, I would assume it was just the friend invited. If it was a friend or family member I’d assume it was everybody.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: oh I just realized you only want kids 2-4 on the bounce house too? Most kids I know would never understand that. I would just say no siblings and warn any parents of kids older than that range. The climbing stuff I think kids would get at some point. My big kids still love bounce houses.
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@Jennibenni: In our area, 3 years old and younger parties are definitely family and close friends. No daycare friends at parties unless they happen to also be family friends.
If we did get invited to a daycare friend party, I would take my daughter by myself. However, if the daycare friend said siblings were invited, I'd assume they are planning on two parents also.
Phew...never have I thought so hard about this!
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@Jennibenni: yeah same here, thats not typical in my area. why would the whole family be invited? A lot of parties have things very age specific it would be impossible to cater to all the sibling age ranges. That would stress me out too much. I have had the occasional sibling show up but definitely not entire families.
Also even with a home party things like favors are planned out and labeled by the specific number of kids invited who rsvpd
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I don't think there's anything wrong with having the party focused on activities for your son's age group, but I would think it would reduce confusion as some others have said to make the invitations out to kids in that age range.
If a co-worker invited me to her kid's birthday party, I would assume it was a bring your family thing with broadly family appropriate activities. If she invited my kid - and made clear activities were for his age range - I would assume just the named kid was invited. I would then either leave siblings with DH or politely decline if he couldn't.
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@BadgerMom: as for the daycare kids having siblings I’m not as sure because I haven’t really “stalked” the FB pages of the moms I recently friended and theirs still a few more moms I need to friend between now and party time. Leaving yesterday LO was saying bye to a little girl with a baby sibling carried in a car seat.
@JCCovi: Ha! Im going for easy and this mobile play gym popped on my Insta feed and that’s all the research I did. Done and done. My original party idea was to have it at park that has a toddler and big kid playground. Setting up decor, food, and other activities seemed like more of a hassle though.
@JenniBenni: @Mrsbells: so true, I’m labeling lidded cups with the kids names so they can be reused throughout the party with the crazy straws and the number of kids dictate how many kiddie table and chairs I order. It’s a party at home, not a house party if that makes sense?
@BadgerMom: really? You would ignore the rental equipment owner’s rules and let all the kids regardless of age play. I’m not 100% sure, but from the neighbor and local family group that could be a 9 yr old on equipment that is marketed for 4 yr olds.
@periwinklebee: for sure! The invites will be sent to the parents by email, but their kids listed as the invited guest.
@pinkelephant: I agree with you. I think it’s only fair to the parent and older child to know ahead of time that the main activity has an age max. That just helps the parent decide if they can come or not and who to bring.
I tweaked the invite note to just say the max age for the equipment is 4., which is in line with the rental company. This thread has made me rethink my other planned activities though. It sounds like they aren’t as fun as I originally thought they would be.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I guess, just based on my experience with friends older kids, I don’t foresee a 9 year old really getting into it with a bunch little guys in there.
On a side note we had LOs 4th birthday in our back yard. Sandbox, swing set, bounce house, bubbles, water beads in the water table (huge hit with the <4 crowd but messy), but the biggest all around hit from kids to adults and everyone in between was the double stomp rocket.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: If it were me and I was set on presenting the rules up front I would just say:
"Siblings are welcome; however, the rental company requires the bounce house and soft play set to only be used by those 4 and under. Please plan accordingly as we would hate to cause any meltdowns!"
[We've done friend parties since he was 2 because he's fairly verbal and a tiny dictator who specifies who he wants to invite - we always expect the whole family and have experienced that]
I am surprised the bounce house has a 4 and under rule. We own a similar version of the bounce house you posted and it just says max weight of 250 lbs... which we've most certainly broken and it's still kicking. That might be an idea... would you be open to buying your own bounce house? I can assure you that it's the best investment we ever made. You could have one for the 4 and under crowd and one for 4 and over?
As an aside, my son is 4 and he is a maniac in the bounce house, but he has a younger sibling and is pretty cognizant of little kids. We recently went to a 2 year old birthday party with a wide range of ages and we all just used common sense. The big kids bounced for a little while and then we got them out while the little kids bounced. Truth be told, the < 3 year old crowd lasted about 5 minutes before wanting out and vastly preferred the ball pit.
And to end my novella, I went to look at the soft play set and my son would only play with the roller coaster (which we also own that exact one). I actually think even last year he probably would have only played with the roller coaster.
The roller coaster is approved for kids 5 and under, but I've actually used it (as has my husband) and again, still kicking. -
For the record, this sounds like it's going to be SUCH a fun party for your son! Regarding your other activities: temporary tattoos would definitely be a big hit with my 9yr old nephew AND my 7 year old nieces... that's just not a terribly long activity (unless they end up covered in full sleeves
). Corn hole too (super fun, but only for a short time since they'll have to take turns). Chalk is fun, but probably MOST fun for your main age group (that is, 3-4).Your son's mind is going to be blown when he sees the play gym set up in your garage, and the bounce house in your driveway. And all of those fun things you're doing above? Those are all incredibly age appropriate (and SO FUN) for HIM. It's going to be an amazing birthday party for him, sincerely.
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If invitation says siblings welcomed, I'd RSVP and let the host know how many/what age is coming. But I would def like to have more info up front re: limitations. If bouncy house is for 4 and under, then I know my 2 year old will have fun. Otherwise, if I have a 6 yr old, at least I can tell him/her what they can/cannot do at the party and they can choose to stay home if possible.
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@nutmeg36: thank you for saying that!
@BadgerMom: your party sounds like a lot of fun. Our backyard slopes too much to bring all the fun back there, but that does remind me to bring the water table to the front of the house and then pick up a few smocks for the kids to share. How much space did you need for the rocket? I bet LO would like one.
@LBee: yes, I love the wording you used! Actually, the inflatable slide is more of a bonus that comes with the soft play gym configuration I chose. I think after this we are going to host party at venues when LO develops more opinions about his activities.
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I just want to say i'm impressed with your party based on this & the other post.
We realized my younger son's 3rd was coming up, booked a farm place, sent out e-vites a week and a half before the party, and are just doing cider, cider donuts, coffee and cupcakes. LOL... puttin' the rest of us to shame!This would all depend on childcare for me, and if one parent was going to stay home with the other child. If it said "Siblings welcome" --- I would think, BRING the sibling.
I typically ASK if they don't specify. And if it's at a place that I know they're paying per-head, I'd leave a sibling at home.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Your party sounds amazing. And I was just trying to give you another simple idea that will entertain older kids. We did the stomp rocket in the driveway right next to the garage where a lot of people hung out. It doesn’t really take up any room at all, and the rockets are padded and come down soft enough not to hurt anyone.
After really thinking this over I would put something in the invites about the equipment/bounce house being restricted to <4. And then add that there will be other activities for older kids such as...and list them. That way people can make ge best decision for their family with all the info on the table.
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I bring siblings only if I don’t have someone else to watch them or if I’m personally friends with the host family.
At my son’s 5th bday party, we had to pay for a few extra kids since siblings were brought along. Oh well. I’m not going to tell someone they can’t bring a sibling.
I’d leave the rules/restrictions to be enforced by the staff at the party...
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@Alba4: ha! The party is at my home; I am the staff.
If the equipment is damaged I am financially responsible let alone liable for someone getting injured on my property.
). Corn hole too (super fun, but only for a short time since they'll have to take turns). Chalk is fun, but probably MOST fun for your main age group (that is, 3-4).
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