The Challenge of Hosting a December Birthday Party

Sigh! Every year we start off the month with such excitement just for me to end up being stressed, depressed and a bit grumpy. My mood change has nothing to do with the holidays but to do with other parents and their lack of RSVPing to my daughter’s December birthday party.

When my daughter was due nine years ago she was actually due on Christmas. Having three children at home at the time, I knew that would be a difficult day to give birth. The last month of my pregnancy was tough and I ended up being induced and having my daughter earlier in the month. At the time I did not think much about birthdays but knew I would do my best to separate my daughter’s birthday from Christmas. I wanted her to always have her own special day. Fast forward to now and my youngest LOVES Christmas. She loves everything about it and always insists o having a Christmas themed cake. No matter how much I try to make her day more birthday and less holiday themed the more she loves it to be reindeer and snowmen and Santa. Whatever makes her happy I am happy to do.

I love her love of Christmas and love her enthusiasm for her birthday. Like all kids she wants a party with her friends. Knowing life is busy this month for many, I always send out invites early. We have her party as early in the month as possible to help people with scheduling conflicts as well. IN previous years family dinners have been a reason many could not attend. Finding a venue for her party is not an easy task this time of yer either. Many places that are family friendly are booked for office parties. This year we were able to book the local indoor pool after calling around to many other places that were booked months in advance. It is an awesome location with a waterside and a party room. We prepaid when booked and were told we could have up to 13 kids attend. My daughter invited all the girls in her class to her party. Weeks ago the invites went out. I personally texted her two close friends whose parents responded right away that they would attend.

2 weeks went by and we head from nobody else. This happens every year. Her party is this weekend. One kid told her she could not come but the rest have not said anything. On the weekend I texted all the parents I personally know and received responses from most. We are still waiting to hear from three. The party is Saturday. This is so frustrating! Yes the party is paid and if it is just my daughter and her two besties that is fine. But we still need to know. We need numbers for loot bags, cake and food. Lack of RSVPs over the years has always been a pet peeve but this time of year it really is annoying.

I get budgets are tight. I am not expecting gifts. My daughter only wants her friends there to celebrate the day with her. She doe snot need or want for anything. Seeing her sad face makes me very grumpy and i wish parents were more considerate. I refuse to make her celebrate her birthday in another month. As a summer baby I always had to do this. It just always felt off to me. I have done everything in my power to make this day special for her and it will be great. I just wish other kids’ parents would get with the RSVPing already.

If you get a birthday invite please please please respond as soon as possible so parents can plan. I find it very inconsiderate and somewhat rude when we hear nothing back. Every year I try to get my daughter to have something smaller, a sleepover with just a few friends. But she loves the party and doesn’t understand why it is so hard.

Do you have a December baby? Do you find you have the same challenges when hosting a birthday party this time of year?

Comments

  1. Not RSVP’ing is just plain rude… whatever the season! Step up people!

  2. NJ Nowoselski says

    Good point. RSVP for adults must be tough for some adults. Even to our daughter’s wedding this past June it was just as bad. We heard “they” were coming but didn’t get the RSVP to confirm #no or people. We seem to be a society that no longer follows the rules of simple etiquette? Although your daughter is hurt by the plans I hope her birthday is something special to her.

  3. Stephanie LaPlante says

    My brother was born late November, so we totally understand this whole situation.

  4. binabugged says

    My son is the 29th, i’m the 31st and my daughter is in Jan. I have a tiny house( 752sqft) so we always had the parties in the summer months, where we could have it outdoors or go swimming etc. We tried a few times to book a hotel with the waterslide but that meant we could only invite so many people due to how many you can fit into a car. As well we had to totally cancel one when the weather was so bad that we couldn’t even drive into the city. Summers way more fun lol

  5. Lori a Galbraith says

    We have a Dec. baby, and sometimes we had a party on this date, but allot of times we had it on a different date. It was challenging.

  6. nicolthepickle says

    I don’t have any December birthday’s but I do understand your frustration.

  7. It’s not just December, we have struggled over the years with people not RSVPing and I’ve talked to other moms who have experienced the same thing. I stopped hosting birthday parties a long time ago. Instead we have a family dinner on the birthday with cake, ice cream and gifts and plan a weekend getaway during that month, with a close friend invited to come along. We stay in a hotel and the birthday boy gets to pick what activities we do (swimming, amusement park, go karts, etc.) The kids love it!

  8. Elizabeth Matthiesen says

    I think it’s horrible that people don’t seem to follow simple etiquette and be polite enough to RSVP, it’s not much to ask when all is said and done. We didn’t have birthday parties when I was a child, my first birthday party was when I turned 21.

  9. I have an end-of-December baby and definitely understand! We always do a little something special together on her actual birthday but in previous years have decided to host birthday parties later on in January! 🙂

Leave a Reply to NJ Nowoselski Cancel reply

*