Teacher refuses to perform parent's outrageous birthday party demand

"She messaged with the information and I thought that was for me because I was invited. No..."

2 min read

July 19, 2024 - 12:33PM

Teacher outraged by parent's birthday request

Parenting

Don't miss out on the headlines from Parenting. Followed categories will be added to My News.

A teacher has spoken out about an outrageous request from a parent of one of the kids in her class who's having a birthday party.

Primary school teacher Katie Larson shared details of the interaction in a now viral video - and the story honestly defies belief.

Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this.

"I'm invited, too"

"Yesterday a parent asked me for a class list so they can invite all the kids to the birthday party, and I'm invited to the birthday party too," she began.

"Very nice, said 'no problem'. Today, the stack of invitations came and I was like, 'I guess I'll just put these in the mailboxes later'.

"So, no problem, we're outside all day."

Putting aside the task until the last 20 minutes of the day, it was only then that Katie realised exactly what was being asked of her.

"I was going to do it. I was going to stuff the invitations in the envelopes — stuff them because they weren't stuffed — and then put them in the mailboxes.

"I opened them up, only the first invitation was written on, none of the rest.

"That parent messaged me during the day with the information and I thought that was for me because I was invited. No — I was expected to write all the invitations."

Teacher Katie Larson. Image: TikTok/@ktlarson27

"Not what I can do"

Naturally, the teacher was agog.

"I responded, 'I can't write all these invitations out', and I sent them home with the class list. Nope. Not what I can do."

The clip has been viewed almost half a million times, and the comments section is filled with support for teachers.

"What the heck made a parent think that was okay?" one viewer wrote, shocked at the parent's entitlement.

"The audacity is loud," another agreed.

This viewer summed it up: "Unfortunately, some parents just don’t get the parenting thing."

Many were surprised at the mum not understanding the commonly-known pressures on teachers, with one writing: "The fact that parents think teachers have time to address and stuff party invitations. We don’t have time to use the BATHROOM!!!"

Other teachers shared their own experiences in solidarity.

"Same thing happened to me! And then the day of, the mum sent an email to me cancelling the party and told me to tell the kids and their parents to just drop off the presents on the front porch," one incredibly wrote.

Another teacher said, "I had a parent expect me to throw a party in-class for their kid."

Finally, this educator revealed it's not an isolated incident, nor only for birthday parties:

"This happens all the time with Valentines. They just send in a sealed box of cards and expect teachers to write names on them and stuff them in envelopes."