Photo: TikTok
She shared her thoughts on the power of inclusion.
By Alexandra Blogier — Written on Jun 10, 2023
The mom of a 5-year-old went on TikTok after she invited her daughter’s whole class to her birthday party and was disappointed by the results. She filmed herself in front of the birthday decorations she’d set up, discussing how sad it made her that her daughter’s party was under-attended.
Kids' birthday parties have become the subject of much debate from parents, yet not attending them can cause harm, as this mom's experience showed.
The mom was shamed after inviting her daughter’s entire class to her birthday party and only two kids answered.
“2 kids RSVP'd to my little girl’s birthday party,” the mom, named Sadie, explained. “I invited her whole entire class. 2 RSVP’d.”
“It’s in 2 hours,” she told the camera. “I started panicking, I started inviting all my Facebook friends with kids and I said, ‘Just show up, we have enough stuff for like 25 kids.’”
“I don’t know what to do,” she said, choking up.
Many other parents in the comment section echoed Sadie’s experience of inviting kids to parties and having no one show up, but some people called her out for even inviting the whole class.
“Not hating but I’m curious, why do parents host parties inviting the class?” Asked someone in the comments. “I have a 4-year-old and would never invite her class.”
Photo: TikTok
Sadie was incredibly sad that only 2 kids from her daughter’s class wanted to come to her party, but her story had a happy ending.
She posted a second TikTok to update her followers on how the party turned out, and it ended up being a good day.
“We had a lot of my friends come through with their kids,” she said. “Even though my kids may have never met their kids before, or they have, briefly, a few years ago, they came, and they all had so much fun together.”
She said that a lot of people were rude in the comments, asking, “Why would you invite the whole entire class? Why would you prepare for 25 kids?” Sadie was shamed online for trying to be inclusive and involve her daughter's class in celebrating her birthday together.
She explained that many times, people don’t RSVP until the last moment, and she’d never want to turn kids away. She explained that her disappointment wasn't about wanting her daughter to get gifts, it was about having her kid learn to make friends with other kids.
She also said that her daughter is in preschool, “so she’s still learning who her friend group is... it is emotional development. It is them getting to learn how to play with others, maybe meeting other kids that they usually don’t talk to at school.”
Photo : Vlada Karpovich / Pexels
“I know everyone has different views on kids’ birthday parties,” Sadie said. “And I know people are gonna voice their dislike for them, or that I did something wrong, or that I should have just invited a couple of kids. That’s not us. That’s not me. I’m gonna invite the whole entire class. I’m not gonna leave anyone out.”
Sadie made a valid argument for inclusion, explaining at their young age, “Right now, they’re still in the process of meeting each other and learning who each other are.”
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers parenting issues, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.