Mom Refused To Let ‘Uninvited’ Kid Into Her Daughter’s Birthday Party — Even Though The Child Was Visibly Upset
It's not her responsibility.
Ron Lach / Pexels A mother on AITA subreddit posted a story about a time she hosted a birthday party for her 10-year-old daughter and drama unfolded when an uninvited guest showed up.
She claimed that her instructions and guest list were explicitly clear and yet someone showed up with a child that was not invited to the party in the first place.
She ended up refusing to let the uninvited child into the birthday party.
She explains in her post that she decided to keep her 10-year-old daughter's birthday party small this year. “We thought to take the kids to a craft party where each child gets a pre-chosen crafting pack to work with for the event,” she explains. This kind of event worked because the children would be able to maintain social distancing but still have fun through crafting things.
She also emphasized that the event was pre-paid, meaning that they had a specific amount of kids already paid for that would have their own individual crafting kits and any more children would be unpaid for and would not have a kit. “Inevitably on the day parent A wants to drop off child A who was invited as well as child B who was not,” she explains adding that these parents offered up “excuses like 'they can share a craft pack and it's not fair to child B' were stated aggressively.”
When asked why the child can’t stay with the parent, all they say is that the child was upset that they couldn’t come to the party too. “I stuck to it and firmly told [the] parent that child B could not come,” she continued.
The child ended up throwing a tantrum and despite all of the blame being thrown her way, she held fast in her resolve.
“Now had this been a small at-home event then sure I probably wouldn't have made the fuss, grit my teeth, and dealt with my private feelings on the matter,” she explained. “But this was a paid per-child event and it's hardly fair to child A or B that they would have to share a craft pack.”
It would have been unfair to force the child that was invited to share, but the parent didn’t seem to care and ended up taking both kids home anyway.
A second parent walked over and told her that she should have just taken the child but she disagreed. “I feel teaching my children the value of your word and sticking to it is more important [than] sparing the feelings of a child and parent who should know better,” she explained.
Other parents declared that she was not in the wrong.
Many people criticized the parent who brought the other child in the first place and said that it was bad parenting on their part — it’s not someone else’s responsibility to take care of your kid. “They should have spoken to you first, instead of dropping a random kid on you like that as if you run a daycare,” one of the top comments read.
“‘Who says no to a child,’” one user asks rhetorically, referring to what she wrote. “Who brings a child to a party to which they're not invited is the better question?”
Another wrote, “The parent was exhibiting extremely selfish and entitled behavior, and it at least did that child good to see that that isn't universally tolerated.”
Standing firm on our principles can be challenging, but is a crucial lesson in responsibility, both for our own children and the community at large. This incident serves as a reminder that while we should always strive for empathy and understanding, it's equally important to uphold our commitments and teach our children the importance of keeping one's word.
This scenario sheds light on the significance of clear communication and mutual respect in our interactions, particularly in the context of parenting and shared social spaces. In the end, the resounding support from fellow Redditors echoes the sentiment that when it comes to parenting, sometimes saying "no" is not just reasonable, but is necessary to instill values and set boundaries, even in the face of challenging situations.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.