Boys at My Daughters 13 Birthday Party

Yes. What's wrong with boys?

It's good for girls to think that they can actually be just FRIENDS with boys.

Both my kids had coed birthday parties for their 13th birthday. Both were bonfires, everyone had a blast. Pretty much invited their whole class.

I dont see why not. Unless its a sleepover party or something :0)

This is your first question and I am apprehensive to answer because I get a feeling you are the 13 yr old. I apologize if you are for real.

Why not? As long as the party is supervised, there should be no issue.

Sure! As long as they are supervised and they dont spend the night.

Why wouldn't you allow it, unless it's a sleepover?

As long as
there is adult supervision
the invitees' parents understand it is a coed party
no-one "couples" off
no couples wander off alone
all kids understand that it is a coed party - not a make out party

kids of both genders hand out school, the roller rink, the mall, they can surely have a safe and fun party at some one's house.

Yes, a 13 year old girl will likely have a crush (or two) but it is even more likely she will have a few friends who are guys.

Also I completely agree with the other ladies' suggestions on crowd / couple management. There are a few advantages of having a co-ed bday party at your home:

1) You get a chance to observe your daughter's behavior around her peers. Granted, she knows she is being 'supervised' but you effectively have a front-row seat to observe the dynamics within her social group. This is huge. You can see if she is introverted or out-going; timid or risk-adverse; if she is a leader or a follower, etc. This will give you a bird's-eye view of how she interacts with the outside world.

2) You get a chance to observe her friends / peers and get to know them. It gives you a chance to even become friends with her daughter's friends, which is super important. One way to protect your daughter is to have a pulse on her friends and what they may be going through.

3) It keeps you young. Being in the swing of things would enable you to be more up-to-date on things (e.g. music, clothing, lingo, etc.). This will help you at least understand what your daughter is talking about when she decides to share her day with you.

So, yes, thumbs up on having boys over for the party.

Good luck!

Do you plan on supervising the party?

My son is 13 and just went to a classmates birthday party last month (she just turned 13).
She invited her whole class - only 2 boys could make it, but there was parental supervision and everyone had fun.
I spoke with her Mom when I RSVP'd and since she likes arts n crafts we got her a nice mosaic project kit at Michaels and she loved it.

Why not?

At 13 it's totally normal to have friends of the opposite sex around - heck - my kids have them at their parties now and they just turned 5, 7, and 9. I think as long as you have enough adults to make sure everything is good, absolutely.

Unless it's a sleepover...

Growing up I always had boys at my birthday party. One of my best friends was a guy! I also always had pool parties since I have a pool in the back yard and a June 25th bday. They came when it started and left when it ended and the sleepover was ONLY a girl or two. There is no reason boys can't go to a girls party.

My daughter always had boys at her parties from the time she was very young. My son always had girls at his parties as well.
These kids of the opposite sex were very good friends and there was no reason at all not to include them.
It just seemed normal to us and there were never any problems.

I think it's perfectly fine.

Just my opinion.

Of course. Doesn't she have friends who are boys? They are 50% of the population. I had boys at my birthday parties from when I was one until my last birthday party at age 30 (not last birthday, just last party). Why would you want to exclude them?

I would. I mean, if she has friends who happen to be boys.
I can see some situations where it might seem iffy, but for my daughter and her friends, they wouldn't be "interested" in boys. So no big deal.

Some girls get the boy bug earlier than others, and if your daughter is boy crazy and all her friends are boy crazy, then I might have a different answer.

My son went to a female friend of his's 12, 13 and 14th birthday parties. There were other boys there each time. And girls. But they were all just friends, no boyfriend/girlfriend stuff going on with any of them.

Of course you should let boys come to the party, as long as you trust your daughter and your supervising them, then I dont see a problem with it.