These three precious children had their first friends-invited (not just family) birthday party today... and we all survived the mild chaos. Several weeks ago, I searched for answers to how to handle a triplet party. I didn't want the friends' parents to feel like they had to bring three gifts. I didn't want anyone embarrassed for not knowing they were triplets (embarrassment if they were the only ones who didn't bring three gifts). I didn't really want three times the toys to have to keep reminding the kids to take care of. It turns out I didn't find the chapter in Emily Post's book on the proper etiquette for such a circumstance. The most challenging part of it was that the kids were wanting to invite friends from school, and I hadn't met the parents, yet, so I couldn't just call to clumsily explain the situation. In the end, we decided to let each of the kiddos invite two friends, and I enclosed a note in the invitation that said, "Dear Parents of New Friends, Ben, Maddie, and Jon will be celebrating their birthday together. We are allowing each of them to have two guests, rather than inviting all their classmates. Gifts are not necessary, but if you would like to bring a gift, please just bring one for (filled in one name). We look forward to meeting the children we hear so much about." (I'm posting this because many friends of multiples asked me to share how I handled it. I will take other suggestions for next year, though.) 
This idea worked for the most part. Each of them sent two invitations, but had a third person in mind in case we got a "no" early in the game. One mom did call immediately because they couldn't come, so Jon was able to get the other invitation out, and two of his friends were there. Maddie and Ben each invited an "old" (aka: known before school started) friend and a new one, but not everyone came. Gramma and Granddad came for the day, and some of the friends' siblings came, so Will had a good friend there to play with, too. We chose to host the party at the park so I wouldn't have to come up with lots of party games (I don't like them), or maybe I really didn't want to have to make sure the house was perfectly clean... twice (before and after the party.)
Except for the wind, the day was beautiful! Not too hot, not too cold. The wind was brisk enough that we finally took all the balloons to the car, and I don't think the kids got to blow out candles because the wind kept doing that for them. I decorated a cupcake the way each requested: Ben chose astronauts, Maddie wanted Pocahontas, Jon wanted Spiderman. Did you know there aren't any plates and napkins designed to fit all three of those themes? We just went with bright party colors -- it worked. The kids played hard for several hours. They graciously opened gifts and thanked everyone for their kindness, presence, and presents. They were polite to each other and all their friends. It was really such a perfect day!
No comments:
Post a Comment