I loved your comment. A family with three kids recently put together a list of 40 experiences they loved for their dad’s 40th birthday. The father thought the list would include things like taking them to pricey hockey games and big trips to Disney World, instead it included activities like making pancakes on Sunday morning and picking pumpkins from the local patch.

Your comment sealed the deal on my decision. My son loves to help us in the kitchen and I already planned on asking him to help with his birthday cake. I think the experiences around preparing for the party might be better than the party itself! This year we won’t be adding anyone other than family. Next year might be different but we’ll just have to wait and see!

Thanks again for chiming in!

Yeah that’s where I’m leaning. I can’t seem to justify the work involved. Not at three 🙂

I’d say that if you’re giving cupcakes to the preschool kids that you’re covered there already. Focus on having a nice family celebration. If the best friends travel with all the rest, then a play date at the park could be another special outing for your little guy, but a totally optional one.

That’s a really good point – friends made in the first few weeks of school aren’t necessarily the ones that will be close at the end of the year. Pickle’s birthday is early in the school year too so this gives me something to think about!

My son would probably prefer a more low key party. He’s also much more comfortable with family then with anyone else, so in that regard keeping the guest list small makes a lot of sense. It’s interesting that your daughter was wise enough to ask to be removed from the situation. I could see my son saying something similar if he was overwhelmed at that age.

I probably wouldn’t be too concerned about the preschool thing, except for the fact that my son just started. He has shown a preference for two or three children, but since it is so early in the school year I really don’t want to exclude anyone he might enjoy playing with later. If he was born later in the year I don’t think it would be an issue. Silly I know, but still true nonetheless.

We had a small family party (grandparents, aunts/uncles, and baby cousin) when Pickle turned two this month, and it was overwhelming for her with just eight people. Several times she said to me “All done!” and needed to go into the other room by herself to chill out for a few minutes. I don’t expect that things will change much by her third birthday, so we will probably invite only the same people and maybe a few family friends who she loves. It saves a lot of hassle for me but more than that makes her birthday party something that she is more likely to enjoy than be stressed by.

Why do you feel like you need to invite EVERYONE from preschool? Is that really a thing that other parents take personally? (I’m worried about this when we start preschool next year so am genuinely curious, not baiting.) My gut instinct is that I don’t give two hoots about inviting kids that my daughter has not expressed a distinct preference for, but again we’re not in preschool yet and she doesn’t have any “friends” that I haven’t picked for her, so…..