I tried to throw my kid a modest birthday party – but then an ‘entitled’ parent blew my budget

The cost of a mother’s school child’s birthday suddenly increased due to the “righteous” actions of a school mother.

Lauren Libin, a mother of two, told The Sun she was planning a party for her youngest child, six, when the other parent made the cheeky move.

Lauren chose to host the event in a large soft play area and says her son was “super keen” to have a big party with his school friends.

“He’s in a class of 20 kids, so it seemed like the fairest thing to do was invite them all,” Lauren told the publication.

“Insolent” party movement.

So she put together a quick WhatsApp invite and sent it to the class WhatsApp group.

People started responding and adding their child’s name to a rolling list according to the RSVP guidelines.

Then a mother, who was the 10th to confirm, added her daughter and younger brother’s name to the list without texting Lauren to check if it was okay first.

“I was immediately shocked,” she admitted, “as I thought it was obvious when I invited a child to a paid party (not a party at your house) that only the child in question would be invited, not their siblings. â€

Although upset and surprised by this, Lauren decided not to answer as her husband told her that it would seem like something small, but she desperately wanted to tell her mom that this was only for the baby in her son’s year. her. note their brother.

However, it seems the mum’s actions inspired copycats, as other parents saw what she had done and added their uninvited children to the list.

“Some people may think I’m petty, but this message from a parent that others saw as a sign that it was okay to add their other kids to the list cost me an extra $200!” Lauren affirmed.

Now, she wishes she had immediately texted the parent who added the first sibling and said no.

“Lesson Learned”

Personally, Lauren says it’s never okay to add a sibling to a list without first checking with the host parent.

“Not only do you pay for the sibling to attend the party (which wasn’t cheap), feed and water them, but of course you have to provide them with a party bag,” she noted. .

“Plus, most six-year-olds don’t want 10 younger kids who aren’t their friends at their party! Since all the siblings were younger (one to four years old), this also changed the dynamic, as the older boys wanted to play rough in the soft play and constantly had to be guarded by the younger children around their feet. theirs.

In the end, Lauren’s son had 15 classmates and 10 of their siblings.

She concluded that she had “learned her lesson” and next year is a “strictly invited name to some kind of party!”