When kids are little, birthday parties are usually a family affair. Parents are encouraged to tag along when their preschooler gets invited to birthday celebrations, where they mingle and watch the kids have a blast in a bounce house. Parents are welcome because, to be frank, no one wants to be in charge of a group of 4-year-olds.
However, as kids get older, the rules become a bit blurry. Are parents invited to birthday parties or not?
One mom went viral after announcing that if she is not allowed to attend a birthday party with her 7-year-old, they’re RSVPing with a big ol’ “NO.”
“My 7-year-old son got an invitation from his classmate to attend his birthday party. I’m thinking, ‘Great, we’ll be attending.’ I wanted to RSVP right away and just put it on my calendar. Well, as I’m reading the invitation, it states on there that it’s kids only and it’s drop off,” TikTok mom Liv explained.
“It’s at someone’s house. I don’t know these parents. I don’t know if there’s actually going to be other adults besides this child’s parents. My 7-year-old is not getting dropped off at someone’s home that I don’t know. If I can’t be at this birthday party, unfortunately, my son will not be attending.”
She goes on to explain that she was bummed about her son not being able to attend the party but believes she’s doing the right thing in protecting him from unknowns.
Liv continued: “It’s unfortunate because it’s this little boy’s birthday party, but you really don’t know what’s going on at someone’s home behind closed doors. And if I can’t be there to protect my son, he will not be attending. Bye!”
In her comment section, Liv received plenty of confirmation of her decision from other parents.
“The ‘kids only’ made the decision for me. Absolutely not!” one user wrote.
“My daughter is 9. I would NEVER drop my daughter off… you can’t trust anyone,” one user said.
“My door is always open for the parents to stay and I’m SHOCKED at the parents who have just dropped off and only met me once or not at all,” another echoed.
However, Liv also experienced backlash from some parents who thought she was being “clingy” and a little over the top.
“I’m a drop-off kind of house. I want the parents to leave; that is one less person I have to feed. I don’t wanna have to make small talk with other parents,” another shared.
One user wrote, “7 is old enough for a drop-off party for classmates. You can make an effort to meet the parents and ask questions.”
“Little kids have been going to people’s birthday parties without clingy parents for decades,” one user wrote.
In a follow-up comment, Liv noted that she received the invitation only six days before, and she didn’t feel comfortable getting to know a set of parents in that amount of time.
