Photo: Robert Kneschke / Shutterstock
It was a fair decision.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Nov 30, 2022
A mother is being praised for her decision not to invite a child from her daughter's class to her birthday party.
The mother explained her reasoning in a post to the subreddit "r/AmItheA--hole" (AITA), a forum where users try to figure out if they were wrong or not in an argument that has been bothering them.
In her Reddit post, the mom, 28, explained that she and her husband, 29, have a 7-year-old daughter named Payton.
"Payton goes to a small school with 20 kids in her grade. Her birthday party is next month and we sent out invitations to her friends at school. We invited the whole class except one student," she wrote.
The mom refused to invite a student who repeatedly bullies Payton at school.
She described the ruthless bullying that Payton's classmate will do to her, which included calling Payton "too chubby."
"Payton has come home crying several times because the girl has told her there’s no way she’s a cheerleader (Payton does cheering on weekends) because she wasn’t 'pretty.'"
The mother also pointed out that the bully refused to let Payton play with the rest of the girls in their class during recess.
"The other girls told her to let Payton play so when it was Payton’s turn the girl purposely got her 'out' by not swinging the rope nicely. The teacher saw that happen," she continued, adding that the bully called Payton a "cry baby" as well.
While the mother has conducted "multiple meetings with the school and parents," Payton refuses to let her classmate attend her party.
However, the other girl's mother took offense that her daughter was left out of the party invitation.
The mother of Payton's bully contacted Payton's mother and told her that her daughter is extremely upset about being left out of the party.
"[She] called me saying now her daughter is crying she was the only kid not invited and everyone at school is talking about the party," the mother described.
Payton's mother tried to explain that the reason the other girl wasn't invited is that she routinely bullies Payton, which the other girl's mother has been made aware of on multiple occasions.
"The mother said I’m teaching my child to be a 'bully' and use her wealth to make friends. I disagreed," she wrote.
The other girl's mother then asked if she had her daughter write Payton an "apology letter" and if they would reconsider the invitation, but Payton's mother refused to accept the letter and stuck with her decision to not let her at the party.
Most people who commented on the mother's post agreed that she was NTA (Not The A--hole).
"Your daughter has every right to feel safe at her party. Your kid deserves not to be walking on eggshells at her party," one user wrote.
"And I absolutely loathe when parents continue to put their kids in contact with their bullies/abusers."
Another user added, "Her kid has bullied yours so, of course, Payton doesn’t want her there. This is a great time for the bullies' mom to teach them that actions have consequences."
"You aren’t teaching your child to be a bully, only to not socialize with bullies," a third user chimed in.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.