The View - Should Siblings Be Invited to the Birthday Party?

Catching part of The View this morning, I happened to hear Sherri Shephard ask for opinions regarding an upcoming birthday party. "Should siblings (of invitees) be invited to the birthday party"? Here's my question..."HOW CAN THAT EVEN BE A QUESTION!!???" Ok, if you are inviting children because YOU are really inviting YOUR adult friends and they happen to have children, then yes, invite all of your friend's children. If you are inviting the children because they are the age and friend/playmate of your birthday child, DO NOT INVITE THEIR SIBLINGS. What are you thinking? What are you possibly teaching those children if you invite them? That they can tag along to EVERYTHING their sibling does? Good luck if you set THAT precedent!

About not inviting the whole class because there are too many, you are NOT obligated to invite the whole class. Pick a limit on the number of children allowed to attend. You are the parent - you make the decisions. Either let the five-year-old birthday boy choose which kids will attend or put all the names into a hat and have him pull out that number of names. If you have decided on a limit of ten, you could possibly have him choose five and pick the other five out of the hat. BUT please, do not leave out only one or two children!

If this problem is about inconveniencing the parents because the parents don't have a place to bring their other child, then:
a. Remember that being a parent is ABOUT being inconvenienced and
b. The parent should welcome this occasion and use it to spend special alone time with the child who is not invited.

If I have a birthday party for my husband I will invite his friends, but I will NOT be inviting his friend's siblings! That would look ridiculous in the adult world and should look just as ridiculous in a children's world.

Joy had an idea too -- If the child is one, invite one friend, if the child is two, invite two friends. THERE IS A MAJOR FLAW IN THIS PLAN, TOO! One year old babies do not actually have friends! The birthday party for a one-year-old baby should include the family, not the babie's so called friends.