Yesterday was our first time attending a party for multiples. It was interesting to be on the "other side" of things for once. It gave me some insight on how parents of singletons must feel when they're invited to parties for my daughters.
The invitation arrived a few weeks ago. The party was for a girl in my daughters' preschool class and her twin sister, who is in another class. I have to admit, the invitation stressed me out. It was for both of the girls, but we only know one of the girls. Did the mom just not want to print separate invitations? Should I buy a present only for the one we know? For both? Auggghhhh! You think as a mom of quadruplets I wouldn't have to think about this. I should just know what to do. In my defense, when we've had birthday parties I have either made it clear that the party is for all four or I've instituted a "no gifts" policy. In the end I bought coordinating gifts for both of the girls. One received a Disney Princess tea set with some other Disney Princess gifts (a paint set and some puzzles), while the other sister received a Tinkerbell tea set with Tinkerbell gifts (paint set and puzzles). I'll be honest, I was quite proud of myself for being able to find the exact same things but different characters. Shopping for and coordinating gifts for twins is so much easier than doing it for quadruplets!
It was nice to be at a party where the "quad factor" wasn't a big deal. Everyone was so used to seeing twins (the birthday girls) that it didn't phase them to see another set of multiples running around. (I'm pretty sure many of the guests thought I brought two sets of twins). Besides, there was yet another set of multiples... a set of nearly-one-year-old triplets. (I just have to throw in a side note that the triplets were born via a surrogate... who just happened to be the mom of the twin birthday girls!!! I tried not to ask "annoying" questions since I know how that feels, but I was fascinated by it all. So know I also know now how strangers feel when they're asking me questions. Most of the time they likely feel how I did... fascinated and trying not to come across as intrusive).
In closing, I would like to thank everyone who voted for me in the Second Annual Multiples and More Blog Awards. I won!!!! Thank you for your support. It truly means a lot to me to have faithful followers, whether you're friends, family or just enjoy my blog. I would also encourage you to check out the other two blogs nominated in my category, as they are both outstanding. It really was an honor to be nominated alongside Two Little Monkeys and Silly Precious Piggies.
Oh, and I've decided to give Twitter one more try. I deactivated my account awhile ago after it was hacked, so let's hope this time around goes a little smoother. You can follow me here. (Thanks MaryAnne for being my first follower!)
December 06, 2010
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6 comments:
We have yet to be invited to a multiples birthday party. The problem I have is with siblings and birthday parties - sometimes all three children are clearly invited, but when it is just addressed to our family, it gets confusing. I always call the moms to find out what they prefer - making it clear that my assumption is they've only invited the child who is closest in age. And then we went to one party where Emma and Johnny's names were on the invitation, but only Emma was given a goody bag - drama...
I have a birthday play date planned for Johnny this week, and tried the no-gifts thing, but one mom already emailed saying she would bring a gift anyway. I was hoping to get around people wanting to bring gifts regardless of the gift policy by calling it a play date, and not a party - but I guess gifts are just super important to some people...
We haven't run into the sibling aspect yet, but I'm pretty sure we'll have some drama once my daughters are in different classrooms. As for the "no gift policy," I've found that some people are always going to ignore it. Last year I asked people to bring canned goods (to donate) instead of gifts if they wanted to bring something and some people still brought gifts (instead of canned goods!)
My teenage daughter's birthday is on Aug 30th, my seven year old son's is September 3. My son is not big into parties, and does something at school, but usually not a big invite-friends event at home.
Since my daughter usually likes to have a big sleepover (and also does something at her dad's house, the party is usually her party BUT she makes her teenage friends bring a present for her still-not-speaking brother (in lieu of or in addition to herself) and the first part of her party is always kid-friendly, watching kid movies in the game room and only moving to the scary stuff the teens like after Alex' bedtime.
I didn't make her do all that. It's her policy.
For Alex, we usually get some shredded paper, let him and his baby sister play in it for hours and resign ourselves to picking it off and out of everything for the next three months. Best. Entertainment. For. Small. Kids. Ever.
I love that your daughter has her friends bring a gift for her brother!
We've only been to one other birthday party for a set of twins, but we knew them both. We bought two gifts, but then wrapped them together and put both names on it. They kids were just turning 2, so I doubt it made much difference.
But I thought about the whole gift thing again when we went shopping for a birthday gift for our neighbor. She was turning 5, so clearly understood the whole present thing, and I wondered if she'd expect two gifts from us- one from each kid, rather than one gift from both. We ended up buying two books, so the cost wasn't bad at all, but it definitely got me thinking. How do you handle gifts for their singleton friends?
I usually try to get four small things that coordinate. If it's a family friend I may buy one gift that's a little more expensive but typically four small things so all the girls feel like they took something.
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