Mum 'confronted' at school gate over birthday party decision
By Georgia Weir|
Birthday party politics can get very messy once your kids start school. Do you invite your child's entire class? Do you keep the party small and intimate?
One woman has found herself at the centre of a playground controversy after only inviting a small group to her son's birthday party.
"I am a mother of a wonderful eight-year-old son. This whole thing happened last April, but I am still getting complaints," the post begins. "So here I am asking strangers for a judgement on the internet.
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"We are not in the best place financially; like most families, our consumer debt piled on and we are throwing every spare cent at it.
"So when it was time to throw him a party, I only invited five of his classmates, the ones he considered his friends."
The anonymous mum said to make up for not inviting the whole class, she sent cupcakes and juice boxes into school with her son to share with his classmates. She also said that she had the birthday party invites delivered to the guests' houses so they were not handed out in front of other children.
"Like I said, money was tight so I got creative. I made nine small cakesกญbuttercream in different colours. Also made big sugar cookies and different coloured frosting and sprinkles. And finally bought tortillas, made pizza sauce and had a variety of toppings. I asked that the kids bring swimsuits and water guns."
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The children made their own pizzas and then decorated cakes and cookies to take home at the end of the day.
The party was so successful that the little guests apparently "raved" about it at school the next week. This is where issues for the Redditor arose.
"At pick up Tuesday, a couple mums confronted me about not inviting their kids. I said that I am sorry, but it was a small party for his close friends only. They kept complaining about me excluding their kids," the anonymous mum lamented.
"I didn't take it seriously then, but now it is a new school year, almost six months later, and I am still getting the occasional comment thrown at me."
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Redditors immediately came to the defence of the anonymous mum.?
Some users said that not being invited to things is an important, real-world lesson, "In the real world, not everyone's going to get invited to everything. While it's never a fun lesson to learn, it's better to learn it early in life than having a sense of entitlement that results in you acting like the parents in this post."
Other users praised the mum for her tact: "you did everything right. You sent treats for the class, you sent invitations to private homes rather than inviting kids at school, and it sounds like you gave your son a fantastic, creative party on a shoestring budget. You're a good mum."
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