do you invite local-ish grandparents for kids performances?

KathrynMD · January 2012

DD has a musical performance at school this afternoon. They have some kind of school performance/activity probably 3-4x a year, concert, Halloween parade, etc. I usually invite my parents and ILs to join us and of course they always come. None of my grandparents lived anywhere near us when I was a kid, so I'm not exactly sure what's normal.

My parents live about 30 minutes away and my ILs live about an hour, both grandfathers are retired, but our mothers are still working, so they have to take off work, drive over in traffic, etc.

RoxBride · January 2012

I do invite them, and they come, but they are retired.

ss+el · January 2012

We aren't to that point yet ourselves, but my parents and most of my siblings live in town, so everyone gets invited to everything. We plan on doing the same. If people come, great. If not, no big deal. We'll probably invite the ILs even though they live 3hrs away because I do believe they'll try to make it to some of these events over the years and would rather know about them than not.

jlw2505 · January 2012

I invite my ILs and sometimes my sister. I have not invited my SILs as they both work full time and most of the stuff the kids have been in has been through school. I don't invite them everything but I pick and choose. They have been to the daycare 4th of July bike parade, to my older DD's end of school year presentation and to the grandparents lunch at daycare. We don't a ton of extra activites that have any type of performances but they have come to watch their classes from time to time which my parents have also done when in town.

Wally3 · January 2012

DS's grandparents live out of town but my parents were in town for Christmas time and loved going to his Christmas show. There were a TON of grandparents there. I would always invite them and let them make the decission to what they can come to, you can even throw in a comment that you understand if they can't make it but want to always keep them in the loop.

rsd12 · January 2012

Yup! We are thinking about relocating and we would be 2+ hours away so family won't be able to come to performances anymore ; (

penguingrrl · January 2012

I do. All my grandparents passed away by the time I was 2, so I had no precedent to go by, so I invited and they gladly came. I always let them know it's their choice if they can/want to come, but I don't want them to feel excluded so I'll always tell them.

cecee36 · January 2012

All of DD's grandparents work except her great-grandmother (my maternal grandmother). So, she's able to come to anything as long as she has enough notice to not make any other plans--she lives an hour away. My mom and her husband live about 2 hours away. Since they both work, I usually keep them updated on what's happening and they do their best to make it. The drive doesn't pose a problem for them.

It's a little different with my husband's parents. His mom works home health off and on so it's totally up in the air whether she's working or not. We choose not to tell her of our daughter's events all the time; not because of a work-schedule conflict but because of other, more personal reasons. But, when we do invite her for birthday parties or holiday celebrations, she shows up and we welcome her. His dad and his stepmom are speech therapists for elementary schools. Since they work in the education field, it's hard for them to make certain school-related functions because they are in school at that time themselves. But, if it's on the weekend, we'll extend the invite. They typically don't make it because their personalities are very low-key and not outgoing but every once in a while they'll show up. They live an hour away as well.

Harper'smom · January 2012

I can't keep MIL away from such events. She and FIL still go to DH's co-Ed softball games which is a bit much IMO. I pretty much dread DD playing sports and having them attend every.single.game. They make really embarrassing comments at DH's games so I try to avoid taking DD.

CD+AL · January 2012

If any of my DCs grandparents lived that close, I definitely would invite them. They'd love to come. We just live too far away. If you're worried that they're feeling too obligated to come to every event, you could just let them know that you want to include them in whatever they wish to attend, but that they shouldn't stress over making it to every event if it is a problem for them. That way they know that you just really want them to feel included and be a part of DCs life.

byrne15 · January 2012

I invite my parents to everything. My mom usually comes and my dad doesn't. They both still work.

I think if your ILs and parents want to come it is great and it seems normal to me!

kelyr1 · January 2012

I ALWAYS invite our parents and our siblings and let them decide if they want to come or not. I also give them the sports schedules so they know when all the games are and can decide if they want to come or not.

Want a personalized experience?

do you invite local-ish grandparents for kids performances?

Re: do you invite local-ish grandparents for kids performances?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards