A mom on Reddit wrote about a weird children’s birthday party she attended that was going perfectly fine until the mom in charge made a decision that left a bunch of kids utterly devastated.
There are fewer things more magical for kids than going to a birthday party. You have free license to run around and be as silly and crazy as you want. All the junk food your parents keep you away from are all available to you.
Sometimes they’re low-key gatherings at friends’ houses. Sometimes, they’re huge extravaganzas at a local theme park or miniature golf course or bowling alley. Wherever it is, it’s almost always an awesome time for everyone involved. Often it’s enough just to be with all of your friends and family.
For the kids who attended this birthday party, however, it sounded like a pretty awesome event at first.
The kiddos were told that they would be having a party at the Build-a-Bear Workshop, which is a dream come true for any child. You get to customize your stuffed animal exactly how you want it.
They all went to the mall and, before heading into Build-a-Bear, got themselves some pizza at the food court. Read the following moms account of what happened next, warning it shocked us.
She posted on Reddit:
Earlier today I went to a birthday party for my daughters (6) friend from school. The party was being held at Build a Bear, but it wasn’t run by the employees. We had cake and pizza in the food court, then went down to BAB to make bears, then back to friends house for the rest of the party.
The invitation said each kid (about 8 total) would get to make a Bear, and I just assumed they would get to take them home, since that is what happened at another BAB party I went to. Me and my husband even pitched in about 30 dollars as we know these things can get expensive.
We get to the store, and the kids go wild getting their animals and accessories. As far as I know the parents didn’t really put a limit, but I made my daughter stick to just a standard dog with a shirt, which about half the parents did as well.
All is well, we leave the store, then friends mom announces that the kids need to give all their animals to her daughter. Cue the upset and angry kids.
They all disappointingly handed over their animals, and friend wasn’t even being nice about it either. Another little boy didn’t want to, and friend ripped it out of his hands. I probably should have said something, but I didn’t. The other parents seemed pretty baffled too.
We get back to friends house and our kids are watching as friend plays with all her new animals. I left with my daughter pretty quickly, and once we got back into the car she just started bawling. I felt bad so we went to build a bear and got her a new one.
I’m just wondering if this is totally normal and I should have expected this, or am I being an entitled parent?
So,
This afternoon at school pickup me and another parent had a chance to talk with the mom of the party. It wasn’t a long conversation, but I’ll do my best to re-enact it here. Moms fake name will be Karen.
Insert awkward small talk here
Karen- … I hope the girls enjoyed (daughters) party the other day. I know (daughter) had lots of fun.
Other mom- Haha yeah I was actually wondering about the whole (daughter) getting all the bears thing. The kids seemed pretty upset afterwards.
Karen- Oh yeah we wanted (daughter) to have a special animal decorated by each of her friends.
Me- Oh okay. I was just wondering why the kids didn’t get to keep their bears. I even pitched in a little bit of money, assuming the bears would go to the kids.
Karen- Well I didn’t have enough money for each of the guests to make their own, that would get pretty expensive! If you want your money back I’ll see about getting it back to you. I don’t really see the problem though.
Me- Okay, well the kids were forced to give away their new creations, obviously they are going to be upset about it. I also don’t see why your daughter needs all these animals.
Karen didn’t respond and walked away right after, probably offended.
What bothers me is she said she “didn’t have enough money for all the kids to have one”, but she did have enough for her daughter to get like 8 bears. Just doesn’t really make sense.
Share if you think this was an awfully cruel party for all the kids invited!