This was a headline that Hubby brought to my attention this morning.
“Little girl left in tears after nobody turned up to birthday………… “source Daily Mirror
People can be so unkind, thoughtless and ignorant. This is not the first time the media has picked up on a story of a child’s birthday party where nobody turned up, and despite the community making such wonderful amends, the memory will live with this little girl for years.
Forty invitations sent out and just one parent/child was considerate enough to drop off a present even though she could not stay. One out of 40, though we do not know why the others did not come. It could be a variety of reasons such as another engagement, but for all 39?
What is the world coming to, and what example are we setting?
I quite agree that an RSVP takes just minutes, if not seconds, so at least preparations can be made accordingly, or even the party rescheduled should too many people be unable to attend on the chosen day. Such a waste of time, food and money for such heartache.
However, looking at it from another angle, kids birthday parties these days are expensive to put on. Gone are the days of 12 guests, fruit jelly in waxed dishes, sausage rolls, dainty sandwiches, crisps and an iced victoria sponge, not forgetting of course the party games of Pass the Parcel, Musical Chairs and the like. Not wishing to penalise kids if they have a lot of friends, but maybe the simple approach should be revised.
As an aside: I gave a New Year party years ago, and had positive replies from 30 of my 52 invitees. Apart from family, no-one came, and I threw away the majority of the buffet spread as I could not refreeze it. The only thing that didn’t go to waste was the barrel of lager which Partner drank more or less on his own. I never entertained again after that.
I also remember the story of my parents putting on a New Year’s party and no-one came due to a flu bug. Dad and my grandfather met people off the bus with a tray of sherry and invited them back. A lot of new friends were made that night.
