I recently invited another child to join my children at a local indoor play place. My question is Am I expected to pay for the other child since we invited them to go or should I expect the parent to offer cash for their child? The other child's parent will not be attending, I will be bringing the child with my kids to the play place. This is new territory for me as we are just beginning the "bring friends" part of our outings. What should I expect?
Thank you every one for all of the responses and so quickly. :) I kind of thought that it sounded like I should pay. What happened was we have a playgroup date set up and I invited another mom to join the playgroup playdate. She said she had an appointment and I offered to bring her child with me. After doing this I remembered the variety of activities (that each have their own cost) this play place has to offer and questioned what to do. I realize now that I need to think of these things prior to offering in the future. lol Any way thank you all for your time, I really appreciate it.
I think that because you invited you are expected to pay. I would probably offer some money if I sent my child with another family, but I don't think everyone would.
I think it would be rude if you asked the other child's parent to pay even though mom wasn't coming with.
You invite, you pay. Whenever I've done this and picked up the kid the mom always offers $$ or says "johnny has $$ in his pocket if needed". If the mom hands me money I hold on to it. As long as we do what we planned on I pay for it all. If the kid wants to buy something or do something extra then I'll use the $$ the mom gave me. Seems to always work out one way or another.
It depends. If you said, "I'm taking Susie to the play place on Saturday. If you'd like, Jane can join us It is $10 plus spending money." or something like that then they should pay. If you said "Can Jane come with us to the play place?" then you are expected to pay. It would be fair to say, "We'll cover the food and entry but she'll need any extra spending money".
Yes, you should pay. My daughter is 12 and has been on many outings with friends...if she was invited, the other mothers always insisted on paying (even when I tried to give them money for my daughter) and I have always paid when we did the inviting. I would imagine it's not a very expensive cost (not like buying a ticket to Disney World or anything LOL) so, just pay the extra few dollars and don't think twice about it. Once, a good friend of my daughter invited her to travel with them to Branson, MO for a week trip. The mom just told me to give my daughter any extra spending money she might want for souveniers but because they were taking my daughter as their guest, then they were paying for all her food and entertainment. Likewise, since we just moved to FL from TX, my daughter just had another friend come and visit for nine days. She paid for her plane ticket out here but once here, we paid for everything she did with us (even though her family sent her with $100). Have fun with your kids and their friends!
I say that you are hosting a playdate, just not at your house, so you pay. There are situations, special occasions for instance, where this might not apply. But an indoor play location, I say it's on you. For a special occasion, however, like a show, I would expect you to ay ahead of time, "Katie would like your daughter to join us to see the show. I am happy to take them. If you would like to join us, the tickets are $20 and yo can jus tbring me a check.""
If mom comes to a playdate or it is a meet-up, then you are each on your own.
If we invite someone anywhere, we pay. No matter what.
I also, always make sure daughter has money to cover herself in case someone expects her to pay.
Example: daughter had a friend who practically lived at our house every weekend, we paid for everything including concert tickets, movie tickets, 6-FLags, etc. Now I do not EXPECT reciprocation but I was floored when daughter went to dinner with this girl, her mom and brother and the mother split the bill in 1/2 and had my daughter ante up 1/2 the total bill. I thought that was a bit on the cheap side. They are no longer friends.... daughter realized this girl was a user. ALWAYS take take take, never give anything, including a sincere thank you.
We routinly take a good friend along with us on vacation to Sandestin, Disney, etc. and we always pay for everything.
I would say since you worded it like that that it is an invitation from you to come at your expense.
If I wanted the other mother to join us and not pay I would word it something like..."We are going to go to XXX play place. If you guys get to that side of town why don't you think about coming...It's only $xx.xx per hour, per child, and well worth the cost."
If I were you, I would pay for the child. If I were the other child's parent, I would offer to pay but I don't think everybody would and I would actually expect to pay for my child's friend if I invited them to something like that without their parents.
I think its ok to mention to the other parents that it cost x amount to go to the play place. If it was a really good friend of mine I would just pay because I know they would do the same in return. But if its not a close friend then I would expect them to give their kid some cash. Your doing a favor anyway by babysitting their kid, they could at least pay the admission. Call me cheap but a lot of these places are more than a couple bucks and man it adds up.
In this case, you should pay. In my case, it seems I always pay lol !!!
We are always the ones inviting kids over to play at our house. Other moms actually have said, "I'm not a babysitter" or "I don't want kids running around in my house." So I have recently begun asking parents to meet at parks, bowling, movies, arcades, beaches, restaurants, etc. Only twice have the parents stayed, all the other times they drop the kids off and sometimes the kids don't have money! After a few times of this, I called to say, "Janice, Gracie doesn't have any cash on her, do you want me lend her some?" Yes, I know people have taken advantage, but it's still not fair. I was actually asked by one mom after going all school year long as to why I hadn't invited her daughter over (I had her over for 6 yrs!) I replied, "I thought something was wrong, because you never invited my daughter over your house." She said, "Oh well then maybe I can have her over one time." Go figure lol! Last week, my daughter asked her friend (right in front of the mom), "Do you want to meet at the movies?" Kid asks and mom says yes. We make plans and that morning the mom calls and asks if I can pick her up and I said okay. I told the mom the movie is $8.00 and I have some snacks, so if she wants she can have them and that she would also have to get her drink. Mom says okay. On line, buying tickets I tell her ,"Okay honey, go ahead (for her to pay the clerk) and she said, "Aren't you treating me? You paid for me last time." This was 35 minutes after the mom acknowledged the cost of the movie. I have now found it best to say, "Do you want to take them roller skating? Skate City only charges $12 for 2 hours. Does that work for you?"
Usually the other parent offers some money and I decide whether to accept it or not. Personally I feel if I invite someone along, I pay for admission.
You invite. You pay. Some parents might offer to help, but that is not expected and never accepted by me.
Enjoy!
If you have invited the other child and the parent is not attending, it is expected that you pay. If the parent was attending, even if you invited them, it is standard that you each pay for your own way.
If you put the invitation out there I think you should be ready to pay but if she offers then that would be great obviously. I hate these situations - it helps you both out so I think really she should offer and pay but if you do the invite then you have to be willing to put up the $. If you can't pay for that child, then more more invite.
you invite, you pay.
If the parents offer you money, use it... If not, pay.
Hi, Mom:
Get back with the Mom and tell her that it will cost (x-amount) and did she still want the child to go.
Hope this helps. D.
if you invited the other child you would pay. when the kids are older (junior high etc) and they ask for rides to or from places then they are on there own moneywise. but if you invited this child to join your children your responsible to pay. have a fun day.
If you invited the child then you pay. This is why there's times when my son doesn't bring friends because if we can't afford an extra person he doesn't bring a friend with us. If they offer to pay then it's up to you to accept it or not.
The other option is if you're friends and know each other are on a low budget and you discuss the payment option cuz you're close enough to have that kind of conversation.
So anytime you invite someone expect to pay, unless it's a large expense like an amusement park and you let them know ahead of time that you'd like their child to go but they'll need to pitch in $50 or 75, kwim? Chuck E Cheese or a $10 playground is affordable, generally, to a parent so it's an invite you pay for.
Just remember not to get sucked into the routine of always inviting and always paying. That's not fair either.
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
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I have always sent mine with money to pay their own way. Most of the time they came back with it. I also would have paid if I invited the child.
HI, If you invite expect to pay and be plesantly surprised and gratefull if the parent offers you money. Best wishes.
