birthday parties and presents

[kimellett]

So we're invited to a birthday party (yeah!!). However, it's a double party for 2 brothers. My dd is the same age as one of the boys (we know them from playgroup) but the other boy is turning 3. Do I bring presents for both kids or just the one we play with?

We were invited on Monday (party is Thursday), and I haven't had a chance to run to the store for gifts. In the small stash I have, I have a board book for the soon-to-be one year old, and a hardback copy of Where the Wild things are. This wasn't a cheap book, and is more than I'd spend if I were to run to the store to pick something up. Granted, in the whole big scheme of things, it's probably $8-$10 more than I'd spend on a gift, so is it really that big of a deal?

Not that it matters, and not that we're keeping score, but we didn't have a party for DD.

Ug. I HATE double parties! We've been to one before (for a friend and a VERY casual acquaintance) and I ended up buying presents for both, although had the acquaintance had a solo party we NEVER would have been invited.

[Tigerchild]

Well, pretty much I have a double party every year for my boys (they're twins, can't get away from that, sorry folks who don't like double birthdays! ).

However, I say that you know who the invitation came from, so bring a present for the boy that you know. If you're feeling particularly nice and you had the time, you could gift him with something his brother could play with too (like, 2 cans of playdough and some tools, bubble juice with some cool blowers, yadda yadda).

Otherwise, I think a present for the one you know is just fine. If you're really concerned, then before jumping to conclusions, why not just email/phone and ask? (email if you're shy)

My DD and her BFF are having a double birthday party this year (they're a week apart in age), but they decided to invite the whole class and do donates for a local pet shelter instead of gifts.

[limabean]

Yes, I would get presents for both kids. It doesn't have to be anything extravagant -- a coloring book and a new pack of crayons or something would suffice.

I don't see anything wrong with double birthdays. My friend's kids were born 2 years and 4 days apart from each other. I'm sure in the future they'll begin to want their own parties, but now while they're little and don't mind sharing, it makes the most logistic sense for her to have a double party, and it's actually a lot easier for the friends and family who would be invited to both parties. There's just no way to please everyone, so your friend is doing the best she can under the circumstances.

[MommyKelly]

We have done double birthday parties in the past for 2 of my dd's.They are only 361 days apart.

I would never expect a parent to bring gifts for both. Only for the child you were invited for.

( Now with that said, I dont expect gifts at all. And would prefer people didnt bring them. LOL)

[noobmom]

I would either bring a larger present for both boys to share (if they are close enough in age) or a smaller gift for each boy.

I don't mind double parties for siblings, but I do think it's a bit odd for two friends to have a double party unless every guest is a friend of both people.

[noobmom]

Originally Posted by Tigerchild

My DD and her BFF are having a double birthday party this year (they're a week apart in age), but they decided to invite the whole class and do donates for a local pet shelter instead of gifts.

Oh, and I have to say, I love this idea!

[newbymom05]

I would buy gifts for both. My kids (4 and 1) have yet to have a birthday party w/ friends and gifts, so far it's been family only, so it's a good thing we don't keep score!

[cedoreilly]

Only once did I have a child invited to a "double" party and I would of not even known it was a "double" party except for the fact the mother mentioned it to me casually. She was not expecting me to buy for both kids.

My twins had a "double" party this year. I just put the name of the person who was friends with the person invited. No one brought double gifts. Whenever I mentioned that I was doing it for both I did say I was having two separate parties at the same time, though.

[GuildJenn]

I think those are neat gifts.

I look at it like this... unless your money is really tight or you feel like you would have to buy something awful, to me it would be worth the $15-20 'buffer' to NOT hurt a kid's or parent's feelings and bring gifts for both. So that's what I'd do. But I think emailing or calling is a fine idea as well.

[Bug-a-Boo's Mama]

We went to one last February. DS is really close to one of the little boys and not so much the other-we wouldn't have even been invited to his bday party if it hadn't been joint. We did bring presents for both boys, but the one for the other little boy was more of a courtesy thing, a couple of inexpensive puzzles.