Hellobee Boards

For preschool friends, I usually go with C alone. If it's for a real friend (like, our adult friends and their kids), we go as a family.

If I'm on the fence, I ask the parents throwing the party-- my little guy is only 1, so when we go to a venue (jump house place, children's museum) for parties, he's usually free and doesn't count towards the total headcount. On the other hand, if my son comes, my husband would, too, so that's another person that gets added on.

i say if there's no other convenient way to attend the party, bring the younger sibling with you. I did get majorly stressed planning our bday party last year because I assumed it would just be one parent +'invited child (plus maybe a sibling if the other parent couldn't watch them). A few parents asked if it would be OK to bring a younger sibling and without really thinking, I said yes - and it really added up!! I was pretty surprised when the majority of families all RSVPed yes - with the whole Fam (parents, both or all three sibs). I had to scramble around to find a bigger venue last minute

But now that I have an idea that at least at this age, a bday party means the whole family will likely come, I just budget and plan accordingly.

I would ask first, but it's not always appropriate for DD2 to tag along. We've been to several sports parties where DD2 is too young for the activity. So I can't exactly bring her to a party and say hey, you have to just sit there so we either have to turn those down or I need a sitter/DH.

ETA - this is why drop off parties are nice once they're old enough. DD1 has a party tomorrow and DD2 isn't invited, but it's drop off so there's no issue. DD2 won't be happy about it, but that'll be my problem to deal with, lol. DD1 can happily go off and enjoy the party.

If the entire family isn't invited, I would ask first and wouldn't bring another sibling along without explicit permission.

When DD1 got invited to a 3rd birthday party from daycare I assumed her baby sister was NOT invited. DH was going to watch DD2 but had to work last minute. We asked my inlaws to watch her instead. If not, then we would've asked if it was Ok to bring her.

We're inviting some daycare friends to DD1's 4th birthday. There are occupancy limits in the party room. So I'm going to be pretty explicit about who's invited and who's not. If someone asks, it'll have to be a case by case basis, depending on if there is room.