as hard as it is to admit, these situations have a harder impact on us parents.

Thanks for all the advice. We are going to do cupcakes and capri suns at school. Since we don't have any family here in Texas, I will try to make it a special day for him..Let him decide where to eat, cake, ice cream..and pick out a gift or 2.. maybe next year will be better for him

I'm not so sure about that MsJanet...to a point yes. I actually had my son bullied at one of his bday parties--to the point that he had to protect himself. He will never forget that bday...he says it was one of the worst days of his life! That was the last extended family/school bday party we had because he would have an anxiety attach just thinking about doing that again. Whatever you go with, just make sure it's very laid back and casual.

Yes, a heart breaker. I've dealt with this every year and my son turns 16 in a month. We started having a family party. He can pick where we go, what we do. He has only had someone his own age to invite a year or two at most. Even though it seems like a good thing to do, inviting several kids his own age only ended badily...every time. After about his 8th birthday, we stopped. He got to where he would not look forward to it because even he knew something would not go well.

This always breaks my heart. My son always wants to invite all of his classmates, yet only two or three ever show up. This year I was so hacked off I didn't even bother to make cupcakes for his class, figuring they didn't deserve them if they blew off my kid (I know, I should be blaming the parents, but I was mad.) I'd say instead of invitations, call up some of the parents of the kids and talk to them about how important it is for your son to make friends and ask for their help. A personal appeal is harder to deny than a paper invite.