I will be the first one to admit
that I am far, far from perfect.
I hate to talk on the phone,
and iffy about returning messages
and can be generally antisocial.
However.
I was surprised and dismayed
at the lack of response I received
from the RSVP portion
of my son's birthday invitations
that went out a week and a half ago.
Of the 21 families invited,
12 responded.
At all.
With either a yay, a nay, or a thank you.
So today, the day before the party,
I am making follow up calls
because I need to know how many children
I should expect to attend and order pizza for.
This yielded 5 additional responses
of children planning to attend
and one who cannot.
Four children remain unknowns at this point
and since they are unlisted in the school directory,
I have no way of knowing whether they will
show up or not.
Finally, I had one parent who, when I called her,
said no, her child could not attend,
only to call back within a half hour to say that yes,
he could attend after all.
People.
GET A GRIP.
When someone takes the time to invite
your kid to a party,
fills out the invitation,
puts on the stamp,
and mails the card out,
PICK UP THE PHONE.
Just take five seconds and let them know.
If you are antisocial like me,
call when you don't think anyone will be home.
But just call.
Posts
True Sib Love Always
2 days ago
8 comments:
I hear 'ya cluckin' big chicken! That's what my sisters and I say to each other when we heartily agree. Don't you just love the ones who show up and never RSVP'd? My eternal question: if you don't hear from someone and can't get ahold of them, do you prepare a goodie bag or not. . .?
Leeann, this is one of my pet peeves as well. I have a solution for you though that actually seems to work quite well. Put your phone number on there but also put on our email address. So many people email with no problem. In fact, I admit I would rather rsvp via email myself. It is just easier!
This happens all the time. I refuse to call people. Call me a crab, but if you don't have the courtesy to respond, I'm not about to waste my time calling. I think they're waiting for a better offer or something.
And just to prove what a crab I have really become, I'm stopping the gift bag boondoggle. When (and who) came up with this idiotic idea? I think it's okay that the b/day kid gets a gift, I mean, it's his/her b/day. Why does everyone else have to get one? It's part of the me, me, me society. Wait until your own b/day!
So there.
Hi all,
Thanks for hearing my pain!
I have a great idea to the whole gift bag conundrum.
I know as a parent that I HATE all the little plastic doodads that come into the house via the little giftbags, have mad plastic monkey love and then proliferate all over the house. Drive me nuts! So, we send home a giant one pound Hershey bar with each kid. An edible favor kids are excited to get, can share with their family and leftovers, well, guess I just have to eat them!
And at about a dollar a piece, it is cheaper than gift bags too!
Leeann
I don't understand the thing with gift bags, but then again we don't have children yet. I'm guessing someone started the "tradition," and everyone joined in, because they didn't want to look like a Grinch by comparison. What a shame – especially when you include toys that capture a child's attention for a minute or two and then winds up in a landfill.
As for the birthday RSVP, is this a belated birthday party for Trey?
This completely drives me crazy when people don't rsvp in a timely way -- I think the more you entertain the more conscientious you are about rsvp-ing early. And I agree with you about the goody bags -- but my son is the worst offender. I have to remind him at practically every party NOT to ask when he gets a goody bag.
I hope Trey's party was a blast -- we were so sad to miss it but had longstanding plans to go to DC and I couldn't back out. At least I rsvp'd! (although I admit I had to stop and think about it to make sure that I had when I saw your post!)
xox, Cristina
AMEN! I put my email addy also (like a pp mentioned), and it helps some, but I still end up with a fair number of people who do not respond.
Linus has a girl in her class whose mother calls three days after the invitation goes out. It drives me insane. Give me a chance to call you first. Get this, she NEVER RSVPs to any party her dd is invited to. UGH!
I have had the same problem and boy does it tick me off. I wind up having to call and ask if they will grace us with their presence. My favorites are the people you pass every day in the school hall and they pretend like they have been polite and responded already. Ugh!
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