Okay, here's my dilemma (small and stupid as it is, I would still love some input on it!)
I would LOVE to have more people over to my house to play games, for dinner, or to just hang out. BUT... I have 5 cats and a not very kid-friendly home.
I'm willing to shut the cats in a room for a few hours so hopefully that wouldn't be an issue, but I'm always unsure of whether or not to invite anyone who has children. I don't want anyone feeling like they need to get a babysitter just to come to my house, but I can only do so much to make my house really kid-friendly.
Do I go ahead and invite someone with children and ask them to bring some toys and keep an eye on their kids? (Is that rude??) I like kids and usually don't mind if they're getting into some stuff, but I'm worried about anyone getting hurt or being bored.
Am I just being too self-conscious about this? Should I just go ahead and extend the invitations? Would any of you be interested in coming over anyways??
I'd love your comments, thoughts, and feelings on this!
7 comments:
I bet you're going to get a lot of different responses on this one... We always assume that it's just John and I invited, unless someone says they'd like to have "our family" over. We don't mind getting a sitter at all. When the kids are invited, we consider it our responsibility to make it a good experience for the kids - bring food they will eat, toys that will entertain them (movies sometimes), etc., and it is ALWAYS our responsibility to make sure our kids don't hurt our friends' house. When you invite people over, when they ask if they can bring something, you could include stuff for the kids in what you mention ("A saiad would be great - plus anything that you think might help your children be comfortable..."). That said, if it were me, and it WAS a family affair, we probably woould't stay as long as if it were just the two of us - we want it to be a positive thing for all people, which often means only a small dose of kids! But to answer your question, yes, we'd love to come!
If you pay for the gas and meals to get there and back, Mama will be there - and I don't think she'd mind leaving the kids here! *grin*
Ray is right - I'd be there in a heartbeat if I had gas money, with or without kids! (Oh, okay, in 7 hours...)
IMO - INVITE!!
If it's someone with kids and you're not sure how the kids will react, then invite them for dinner first. That's a shorter time frame. You could then say, "Maybe next time we can play a game. Why don't you bring one of your kids' favorite games or movies so they can play/watch while we play our game?"
Depending on who it is and what you're comfortable with, ask THEM whether they'd rather bring their kids or not.
Or ask Aimee to babysit so they can come. (Oh, she'd love that. I can see her rolling her eyes at me now!)
There are lots of ways to approach this issue. It all revolves around what you are comfortable with and what they are comfortable with. Obviously, you want more people to come over. So do it!
Having just moved, I can say the gesture will be appreciated! We'd love to receive more of these invitations to help us get to know more people. (Hmm, maybe WE will have to make the offer...)
Wish I was there to join your fun...
I (we) would love to come over, too! Michael is pretty allergic to cats and I would feel terrible for you to lock your cats up. Those cats are so fun!
As for the kids thing. If I were the one being ivited and it was stated whether or not to bring kids....I'd ask. But being the invitee (is that a word?) I try to saw whether or not to bring the kids when I invite them.
I would love to have people over more too. We had a couple families over for New Year's and it was a blast. I has always wanted to have more people over. Besides HT or VT lol. But, I worry too much about my house not being big enough, clean enough or the evening not being fun enough, will someone else get offended if they find out I had someone over and it wasn't them,would my house smelling like a friggin zoo turn them away at the door? ..the list could go on forever.
I have a picture hanging on my wall that says may our house always be too small to hold all of our friends.
I say JUST DO IT! It is a fun way to get to know people in a relaxed setting. Who doesn't love games? I could play them all night. (as long as I am playing with good sports cause I usually win haha)
It seems you have now opened yourself to a full blown party. Everyone wants to come. :)
And no I wouldn't be offended if I found out you invited someone and it wasn't me. My worries are none I have at other poeples houses...just my own lol So I dunno why I put that on myself.
And right now I physically can't clean my house like I want it and I would hope people would understand. :)
I am writing a post here sorry!
Wow I really need to read what I type before I click ok. Hopefully you can understand my drug drunkness brain. lol
Do it fast (while the weather is pleasant) so that if the kids tear your house apart...you can kick them out into the yard! hehe
I agree...it's definitely the parents job to entertain their kids...you can usually tell who will do that and who won't before you invite ;)
I miss playing games at your house. I never felt like we had a problem with Mary Jane. Maybe you felt differently. Sorry if you felt inconvenienced by her. We always had a great time. Remember when she tried to kiss the cat?
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