Hey Everyone,
I had a conversation with some Christian friends once about birthday parties for children, and one perspective was that "everyone should be invited so that no one is left out."
This viewpoint was kind of presented as just being the Christian thing to do -- because not inviting a classmate or family member might be seen as unloving, favoritism, and exclusion -- which some felt goes against Christian teachings.
I also understand that nowadays, it seems socially expected to invite absolutely everyone.
BUT, how realistic is this? How many parents can afford to throw parties for their kids that include everyone in the class, and/or all their friends and neighbors?
I'm from a smaller family who doesn't really make a big deal out of birthdays, so I was wondering how other Christian families handle this.
* When your child has a birthday party, how do you decide who gets invited? How many people do you invite?
* If you can only invite X amount of people, how do you decide who does and doesn't make the cut?
* Do you get complaints from those not invited (classmates, neighbors, relatives, etc.)? How do you respond?
* Do the people who criticize you invite everyone to their parties, or are they hypocritical?
I'm putting this here in Miscellaneous rather than just the Family section in the hopes of reaching a wider audience (families, single parents, those helping to raise young ones, etc.) If you don't have a family, tell us what your birthday parties were like and/or how you see them organized around you.
I know it may seem like a trivial subject, but not having children myself, I'm genuinely interested in how Christian families approach this.
Thanks in advance for your feedback!
I had a conversation with some Christian friends once about birthday parties for children, and one perspective was that "everyone should be invited so that no one is left out."
This viewpoint was kind of presented as just being the Christian thing to do -- because not inviting a classmate or family member might be seen as unloving, favoritism, and exclusion -- which some felt goes against Christian teachings.
I also understand that nowadays, it seems socially expected to invite absolutely everyone.
BUT, how realistic is this? How many parents can afford to throw parties for their kids that include everyone in the class, and/or all their friends and neighbors?
I'm from a smaller family who doesn't really make a big deal out of birthdays, so I was wondering how other Christian families handle this.
* When your child has a birthday party, how do you decide who gets invited? How many people do you invite?
* If you can only invite X amount of people, how do you decide who does and doesn't make the cut?
* Do you get complaints from those not invited (classmates, neighbors, relatives, etc.)? How do you respond?
* Do the people who criticize you invite everyone to their parties, or are they hypocritical?
I'm putting this here in Miscellaneous rather than just the Family section in the hopes of reaching a wider audience (families, single parents, those helping to raise young ones, etc.) If you don't have a family, tell us what your birthday parties were like and/or how you see them organized around you.
I know it may seem like a trivial subject, but not having children myself, I'm genuinely interested in how Christian families approach this.
Thanks in advance for your feedback!
