I recently addressed my daughter’s class regarding Diabetes, type 1 and 2, and discussed what each were and how this affects my daughter.  The class already knew about her disease because she discusses it openly herself. Since giving this talk to the class, my daughter has not been invited to any birthday parties.  She feels snubbed and thinks the parents are worried about handling the sugar issue at the party.  How can I find out if this is the case and do something to help the situation?  I feel like I made it worse having given this open talk to the class?

One thing to keep in mind is to make sure that this is the reason your daughter is not being invited is due to this situation instead of other reasons, i.e. not being close to the birthday child or the other families limiting the number of kids being invited.

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My daughter is turning three, and this is the first year that she is so excited to have a party. She wants a princess party with all of the trimmings, as well as all of her friends to attend. During past years, I have chosen the kids who are invited from church, a monthly play group that we attend in the neighborhood, and day care. This is her first year in pre-school, and she wants to do the inviting. Should I let her invite the kids she wants to attend the party, even if I do not know some of the kids she wants to have attend? Is she old enough to make this decision?

Three is the magical age when kids really understand what a birthday party is all about. It is not surprising that she wants a themed party, and that she knows exactly the theme, and she also has definite opinions about who she wants to have attend. Your daughter is old enough to contribute to the the invitation list.

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Recently, a Mom related to me that her daughter had invited the class bully to her party. This “bully” apparently has pushed her daughter and made fun of her since the start of the school year. Now, why would she want to have her attend her next party? It would seem that the class bully is pretty popular, and she wants to be “liked.” An invitation to the party may be just the ticket in her daughter’s mind.

Yet, this parent is not interested in having this bully attend the party. She expressed concern that her daughter had already made a verbal invite and had to follow through with the actual invitation in a few weeks. In this situation, don’t worry about it. When your kid spreads the word before the actual invitations are sent out, it is not an official invitation. It is only when the actual invitations are sent out that the invitation list exists.

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Recently, this question dropped into our mailbox:

If hosting a sweet 16 party in honor of 3 girls, are the names listed in alphabetical order on the invitations?

Given the party is in honor of three girls, it would seem that alphabetizing the girls’ names on the invitation would be the fairest way to list their names. If anyone asks how you came up with the order, you have a very fair, unbiased, and good response.

I just sent out my invitation for my child’s party. That very same day my child received an invitation for a party on the same day. How to handle?

This is an excellent question, especially since many schools now have policies in place that require that parents invite the entire class to birthday parties. Odds are some of these parties will fall on the same day.

Here are a few ways you can handle this situation:

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