A mum was left in tears after inviting 24 kids from her son's class to attend his sixth birthday party at a play centre - only for half of them to show up with their own guests, leaving her to foot the bill and clean up the mess. The doting mum sent out invites to her little boy's entire class, but not a single parent RSVP'd to their event - despite the invitation providing contact details and asking for numbers so she could organise entry tickets and food.
However, the birthday party didn't go as planned after the boy's classmates showed up, along with uninvited guests - including family members and siblings. To make things worse, the uninvited guests caused a scene, forcing employees to step in and demand they leave the venue.
'I was in tears,' the mum said in a Reddit thread. 'My son is really upset that there were so many mean kids. He said this was the worst party ever and asked to not have a party for next year.'. Before the event, the mum decided to extend the invitations to her co-workers, family friends and her husband's workmates after not receiving any RSVPs from her son's classmates.
'So, we started inviting other people... basically anyone that we knew that had a kid, they got to come. So, in total, we had 11 kids come,' she explained. A mum has told of how she was left in tears after inviting 24 kids from her son's class to attend his birthday party at a children's play centre - only for half of them to show up with their own guests, leaving her to foot the bill and clean up the mess (file image).
'I paid the entire deposit, paid for 15 kids to be there, and we got enough food for that number of kids plus extras for the parents. 'We get there, get settled in, and start seeing kids come in. A few of his classmates began showing up. I was fine with that and excited kids started showing up for him.'.
However, things quickly took a strange turn when more kids showing up. 'One family brought seven kids total - three teens, two slightly older kids, a girl from his classmates, and their cousin,' the mum said in disbelief. 'Another family brought their son and one of his friends because they didn't know if their son would know anyone there so they wanted to make sure he had a friend to play with... So many of them brought siblings.'.
Despite booking a dedicated room for her son's birthday, the mum was told by an employee she needed to pay for each new kid. 'I made an announcement that if you didn't RSVP or you brought kids to the party who weren't his classmate, you needed to pay separately to be there or come talk to me,' she said.
'Three families that brought their kid plus siblings apologised and paid for their other kids. I had multiple parents tell me that they didn't know they couldn't bring their other kids and promised to pay before they left. 'Some asked for my bank details so they could reimburse me later since they couldn't afford it right now. Some just left, a few taking their presents with them.'.
It was $11 per child, which covered the cost of arts and crafts, animal petting, games and a goodie bag with a 'fun' keepsake to take home. 'So, the money is worth it,' the mum said. However, her son's birthday party didn't go as she'd hoped. 'Another upsetting part was that a big amount of them brought no presents nor even said anything to my son or me. They came, played, and ate the food,' she said.
Many of the groups bailed shortly after she announced that uninvited guests would be required to pay for their own entry fee. 'Parents were just rude and didn't watch their kids at all. The animal at the event had to be put away early because kids were being mean to it or intentionally trying to upset it,' the mum said.
'Kids were popping balloons on purpose and throwing their food wrappers on the floor. One kid climbed on a table and refused to get down... the owner of the building told their parent they needed to leave. 'Within an hour-and-a-half, we were asking a lot of people to leave or please help clean up the mess their kid has made. One parent changed a diaper with poop in it and left it on a chair. Not even closed up, yellow poop face open with a wipe on it.'.
Once the family shut the birthday party down, the mum ended up having to pay for every kid whose parent hadn't covered the cost. In addition, she had to pay an extra $50 cleaning fee and $120 on damages. Her post has been met with more than 1,000 comments, with many horrified on the mum's behalf while others shared their own terrible experiences.
'This is unacceptable behaviour. Help your son develop character so he doesn't add to the problem in the future. People with character do what's right because it's right. It may be an old-fashioned concept but it's an invaluable trait to have. What an awful experience for your family and the poor animal,' one said.
'Part of this is the establishment's fault. There should have been a list with names or something so randoms couldn't just come in and say they're coming to your party making you pay for them. I would have refused... I'm so sorry your child has to go to school with them,' another shared.
