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We had a similar issue for my youngest, the only one with a summer birthday. Although our yard was frequently the site of neighborhood games, he didn't want the older kids at his birthday party. I just made some extra cupcakes, and sent them away with a little treat. No hard feelings. I did the same with the couple of children the same age that he didn't like. They were welcome when all the kids were over, but not on his birthday.
Great idea! I've never lived in a house that didn't have a walled yard so I've wondered how these kinds of situations would be handled. I'm filing this away for future use if necessary.
I would first tell the parents of the neighborhood kids to please ask their kids not to come on your backyard that day between _____ and _____ because you're having a small gathering. I would then get some cones and just block it off with the cones and some yellow tape to remind the kids.
The party is only going to be a couple of hours anyway, right? Maybe 3 hours at most? It shouldn't be too big of a hassle.
I bought those tiny cup cake molds for parties. I have found alot of young kids really don't eat an entire cupcake so those tiny ones are best for big gatherings like school parties, etc. maybe you can give the tiny ones to interlopers so you aren't feeding the entire neighborhood.
I think I've seen them at the grocery store or least a specialty kitchen store. I guess they sell the paper liners for that size but I've never used them. If you spray and flour the molds they come out pretty clean. I usually make or buy a very small single layer cake for the birthday child and the rest of the family and give cup cakes to party guests.
I just got off the phone with a neighbor where I was guilted into inviting her older daughter because she "wanted to help celebrate" too. She does play with the invitees but not that often so I thought we could get away with not including her. Guess not.
Another mom I work with and who lives in our neighborhood is also angling an invitation. Her son nevers comes to play here and is half the age of my son. I guess next time I'm out buying a pinata and see someone I know, I need to throw my coat over it.
I bet those kids won't have any entitlement issues later on..........where DO these parents come from?
Is it possible to have the party elsewhere such as at a nearby park where you can rent a small pavilion?
Oh, I wish!!!! As I said in the original post, that would solve everything. There are several places near by just like that. But, for reasons I won't share here, my son needs to have his birthday party at home.
It looks like we're getting a cold snap this weekend, so the problem may solve itself!!!
I'm sure this will start a debate. But I hope it stays in proportion to the event in question.
For the first time in years my son wants a birthday party with his neighborhood friends. He wants a nerf tag party in our backyard - easy enough. We have a ton of fun things planned in the wooded part of our yard. He invited just his 5 closest friends.
The problem is that we often have random kids from the neighborhood show up to play. We back-up to a common area between houses and these kids don't really pay attention to where other's backyards start. There have been days when there were up to a dozen kids back there that I had never seen. There are others I do know, but they are very casual friends with my kids.
Any suggestions on ways to nicely let these kids know our yard is off limits for a few hours? My son would be devestated to have to move the party inside. (My lamps would also be devestated.) Moving to a location away from home is not a possibility, unfortunately since that would solve everything.
never mind...that's what i get for not reading the other posts :-P....i would just put a bunch of *obvious* signs that it's a birthday party, and chances are that will keep the other kids away.
To the parents angling for an invitation - tell them that the party was just going to be family, but so many have asked to come that you've decided to make it a potluck and that the only type of dish no one else has signed up for is the main entree. Tell her your son prefers Meat Lovers, Stuffed crust, you'll need at least 4 and could she also grab a bag of ice on her way?
I've only had one person ever invite their child to a party I threw uninvited, but only because I always invite all the children in a family to any birthday party I throw. I knew this particular boy had a twin, but he never mentioned his younger brother. When the mom called and asked if she could bring him, she also offered to pay for his entry (not a home party). I thought that was appropriate and as it turned out, some kids never showed (people are so thoughtless) so there was plenty for her younger child.
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