Mom Asks If She Was Wrong To Turn Away Child Who Wasn't Invited From A Birthday Party

In an attempt to not hurt anyone's feelings, many parents opt to invite every child in their kid's class. That way, no one feels left out by not being invited.

Sometimes, parties are on the smaller size and they only invite a few kids. Other times, parties are just about family and not as many friends from outside the family are included.

Sometimes, when a kid is invited to a birthday party and they have a sibling somewhat close in age, the parents try to bring both kids to the party.

Many parents allocate money for a certain number of kids, especially when it's at a location that charges per kid. They may have purchased goodie bags or other things that are pre-planned based on the number of kids they thought were coming.

The post, which was penned by the mom's niece to get some solid internet advice, was titled, "Am I The Asshole for not letting an uninvited child attend a birthday party?"

Even when only one of the children is invited, some parents will bring said child's siblings to the party, too. The parents don't wait around to see if it's okay, but just leave all of their kids at the party and drive away.

"I've made no secret about my distaste for such behavior when in the parent circle at parties. It's an overall miserable situation for the sibling with no [friends] and usually out of their age group..." the mom said, adding that the hosting parent also has to scramble to find extra party supplies for the unexpected guests.

"Any emergency would at least come with an explanation and those parents I'm far more understanding towards. It's the parent who has no regard for arrangements that gets to me," she wrote.

"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. This worked out as the kids could have fun while social distancing. This event is a per-child, pre-paid event so any extra children would be unpaid for and would not have their own crafting kit. This fact was heavily emphasized to the parents and not a word of discontent was uttered," she wrote.

She told the parent that they had only so many craft packs allocated for each child. She also reminded her that she wanted to keep things as small as possible. However, the parent was not happy and took both of their kids home.

Some parents at the party said that the mom was wrong for saying "no to a child." But, this mom said she thought it was, "important to stick to her word."

Many people answered the Reddit thread saying that this mom was completely right because birthday parties do not equate daycare. Many people pointed out that even birthday party places charge for extra children, too.

One person 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."

"Thankfully, my kids haven't been too into friend birthday parties, so we've only had a couple. At one of the parties, a mom came, said hello and walked out, leaving both her children (only her son was actually invited)," another user wrote.

"What does that even mean 'who says no to a child?'! Parents!! Parents are supposed to say no to a child... The reality is that in life you aren’t always going to get to do what you want because you throw a fit about it. Life has disappointments. It’s my job as a parent to help my kids learn to deal with those feelings in a healthy way, not steamroll other people," they wrote.

One said that if the child wanted to go, the parent should have chipped in.

"If child B was begging to go, the parents should have apologetically called beforehand and asked if it was okay if 1) they accompanied B and 2) paid for an extra craft pack," they wrote.

"I used to work at a birthday event center and I've seen how quickly it can add up if you allow for siblings or other kids who weren't invited to be included! No one wants to be the bad guy and tell a kid no, but birthday parties can be extremely expensive, and typically there is only enough food/activities/party favors for a certain number of kids," they said.

"Your house, your rules. It's Parent A's fault for being disrespectful and dumping her younger child on you - making you the bad guy. Don't feel bad. But DO have a clear conversation with the parent and express your feelings calmly and politely," they said.

They agreed that, while it was sad for the children who didn't get to attend the party, the fault was with their parent for bringing them unannounced.

What do you think? Was this mom in the wrong?