My son's friends cancelled on a playdate for 'sad' reason

"I'm heartbroken for him," the mum said, but others told her to "toughen up."

In a Melbourne mum's self-confessed "venting post" on Facebook, she details how her son's friends cancelled a playdate after they were invited to a party instead.

Taking to the Melbourne Mums Facebook Group, the woman, who remained anonymous, explained how she had invited four kids to their house this Saturday and had planned the day "a month in advance."

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"I'm heartbroken for him"

"Today I found out, those kids have been invited to a birthday party so they all told my son they can’t come," she explained.

"My son was very upset, he was crying for half an hour after school.

"I am sad that the parents couldn’t tell the party organiser parent that they would come to the party and stay there for an hour or two and then drop off the kids over at our place. (Which would have been around 2 pm)."

To try and cheer up her son, she promised she'll take him to cinemas, so they can still have a fun day.

She concludes her post by admitting she's "heartbroken" for him.

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"You’re overreacting and need to toughen up a bit"

Despite not explicitly asking for it, the mum received countless replies with people's opinions.

"If it’s just a play date without any special occasion then I would offer to reschedule it. Birthday parties / special occasions come first, in my opinion. Casual play dates can take place at any time," one person said.

However, the mum replied, clarifying: "I don’t expect them not to attend the birthday party. I was hoping the parents would be at the party for two hours and then come over to our place after the party."

Someone else told the OP: "Don’t stress. It builds resilience. If your kid had been sick, you would’ve had to cancel. It sucks, but these things go both ways. I never tell my kids about anything until we are about to leave to avoid disappointment in these circumstances."

"Totally get that you’re sad for your kid but I think you’re overreacting and need to toughen up a bit," another frank response read.

Image: IStock

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"No shame"

Among all the comments telling her to get over it, a few women came out and shared the mum's frustrations. 

"I haven't reached that stage yet, but this post has got me thinking, a few have said 'birthdays come first' or whatever, and sure, a birthday is a big deal but from an anxious person's perspective, why can't we hype up play dates just as much?" one person pointed out.

"Some kids struggle making friends or hanging out in bigger groups and/or smaller, let alone the fact you can most definitely have just as much fun on an 'average' day as you can at a party.

"I'm pretty upset to read that your son being left out to some isn't a big deal or they can't see how potentially damaging that can be, especially if this is one of the first times a proper play date was going to happen... I'm so sorry this is still happening in this day and age."

And someone else replied: "If it were my kids invited to the two events, I would have done what you said for sure and come afterwards."

"Honestly, kids and mothers amaze me sometimes," a third wrote. "The heartache my 10-year-old has been through with friends cancelling at the last minute for play dates, birthday parties, etc, is just shocking. Humans don’t have shame these days. It’s disgusting."

Originally published as My son's friends cancelled on a playdate for 'sad' reason