Invitation Question

[MatthewsMom]

Hi All,

My husband just got his Master's degree and I have been planning an open house in his honor, combined with Matthew's second birthday. It will be on the first week of May, so hopefully most of the germy season will be over. We are planning to invite lots of family and friends and we anticipate more people than have ever been in our house. As I have expressed on numerous occasions, I am extremely paranoid about Matthew getting sick. (We have remained entirely sick-free for one whole year!) He is due for an MRI within the next month or two, so it really is important still that he not catch anything.

My question is about the invitations to this party. I would like to write something on them to indicate that we still need the sickies to stay away. My husband thinks this would make people not want to come, just in case. I just don't want any runny noses or coughs around, and I could see where if we do not indicate this to people, many of whom have not had a lot (if any) contact with Matthew and don't quite understand the situation, we could be setting ourselves up for trouble. What do you all think? Should I write something on the invitation? If so, what could I write that would not make people paranoid (like me) and not want to come? Is there some other way to handle this, other than not having the party at all?

Thanks!
Ashley

[Chrissie]

Dang, this is a hard one. With Kylie and her 1st Birthday we wanted to celabrate huge, I didn't put anything on the invite, but most were close family and I kept hinting no one come if they are sick or have been around anyone sick. I also had a huge bottle of sanatizer when you walked into the door and made people sanatize. Some of our family still haven't seen Kylie and she is 1 1/2.
I would say it's your call. Me personally wouldn't mind getting an invite with the no germies allowed its common sense if your sick stay home LOL. Even if Kylie wasn't sick I would still understand. Some people just don't get it though, how much you emphasize no germs they still come. hmmm maybe if you just hint or spread the word around? I dunno not much help Good Luck!!!
Chrissie

[AngelMom]

Congrats to your husband and I can imagine how important this open house is to honor him as he has worked hard and is deserving :D.

However, I think you have a right to somehow gently put something on your invite asking those that are sick, or have been around someone sick in the past 48 hours not to attend. . . It's a hard call because that's about the time of year I deal with allegies and so though it comes across that I have a cold, it's not. Good luck, hopefully you can come up with a little saying that says it in a nice but firm way.

[rainsplats]

RSVP's

We included a 'don't come of your sick' message with my daughter's birthday party invitations. (She is 10):

Dear Parent,
R's little sister is highly susceptible to RSV/flu. Even a tiny cold causes her to be sent to the hospital for recovery. If your child is sick in any of the 7 days before the party or has been exposed to sickness in the 36 hours before the party, please keep your child home. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. Please call me if you have any questions. (xxx xxx-xxxx)
sincerly,
me

---------------------------------------------
We did NOT have a single person RSVP. I usually ask people to RSVP (regrets only). This time I forgot to put the "regrets only" part. No one RSVP'd. We ended up with about 10/15 kids. But I had NO idea how many would show up and that made the planning hard.

We got a babysitter to watch Seraph upstairs during the entire party. I personally squirted sanitizer into the hands of each person as they entered our house. We also had anti-viral Kleenex boxes in each room.

None of the kids who came showed any signs of being sick.

We sprayed Lysol and Oust air sanitizer everywhere after the party. We also wiped stuff down with Chlorox Wipes.
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We've missed important family gatherings and turned people away at our doorstep. It makes me cry and I feel rotten about it for months. But, when push comes to shove it's just not worth the risk....and everyone is very understanding about it. (even the ones who think I go a little crazy over it.) We decided to never again let Seraph be exposed to sickness just to be polite.

Tell your hubby that our experience was that people were more careful to not get exposed to sickness in the weeks before the party. They mentioned they'd washed their hands more often and sanitized more because they wanted to be able to come and didn't want to be the one who brought a cold to our baby that landed her in the hospital.

In Japan, face masks have evolved as a kind of courtesy: if you have caught a cold, you wear a mask to avoid spreading the germs to others. Also, masks may help people who suffer from allergies. I wish we did that here!


Anyway, if it were me, I'd just do the hubby's party. Get a sitter for Matt. Include the "don't come if you're sick" note. Ask for RSVP's for regrets only. Help people use the sanitizer at the door. Wipe down and sanitize after. Have a smaller party for Matt--a family dinner with cake and ice cream. Matt won't know the difference. The adults will respect your caution.

OR
Maybe you could keep Matt upstairs for the first hour....and then, knowing that no sick people came, you can bring him down and sing to him.

RSV is still going strong. I'd expect it to still be a problem in May. How often does Matt touch his mouth and eyes? RSV transfers mostly thru touch (or droplets in the air...but doesn't transfer by air as much as other things).

Good Luck - I'm sure you'll figure out the best solution...that's what moms do!!