No, I will not stay and watch my kid at your child's birthday party

"What can't you manage? It's two hours," the mum says in her viral rant that's divided parents. 

Children's birthday parties can be a parent's idea of hell. 

From the physical chaos of 30 kids running rampant, to tantrums, mess and tears. Then on top of all that, all the parents you have to meet and small talk you have to make... 

It's safe to say that most of us would rather shoot through. But alas, we stay out of obligation and watch over our little ones and help alleviate some of the stress for the hosting parents.

But one mum on TikTok is calling BS on this and has dropped a truth bomb regarding this sort of unspoken party etiquette. 

And it's got a lot of other parents really, really worked up. 

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

Image: TikTok

RELATED: Parents fume over teacher’s class birthday advice

"My time is valuable"

"I don't want to stay at your kid's f***ing birthday party," the mum of primary schoolers, Jai, says in the clip. 

"And I'm not going to stay," she emphasises.

It's a bold claim, but she backs it up with four main points. 

Number one, she has three kids. "So when one of them comes home, the other two are immediately mad. So I have to de-escalate that situation."

Also, staying at a birthday party with your child means you have to organise babysitting arrangements for the other kids. 

Secondly, Jai points out the extra mental load that comes with being invited to a party: "I have to RSVP, ask you what stuff your kids like because you probably didn't include it in the invite,  go figure out what I'm going to buy your kid, spend my money, wrap it and then take my kid to where you decided they need to be on that date and time."

Thirdly, Jai says it's basically free labour. "You want me to volunteer two-four hours of my day - 'cos it's not a paid position. If I'm looking at it like a working day and how much I make... my time is valuable."

"Why can't you manage 15 kids for two hours?"

Then comes perhaps her most controversial of takes. She basically suggests that if you can't handle watching so many kids, maybe don't invite them.

"Some of you say you don't want to watch so many kids, because you have a party to run.... but that's literally a party, babes.

"You are inviting a bunch of kids to run around your house because it's a benefit to YOUR kid to have a good time. I don't need to be miserable watching my kid having a good time."

She then adds, "I'm assuming that if you're gonna go out of your way to spend the amount of money that it costs to have a birthday party, you're probably somewhat of a decent parent and my kid is gonna be fine for like two hours with 15 other kids. I don't know why some of you are so 'hover-y.'

"What can't you manage? It's two hours. You can't even do a whole lot in two hours. I don't understand."

She concluded her rant by saying, "Those parents that are like, 'you should stay' - I'm not coming."

RELATED: ‘I take my 7-year-old to drug-fuelled festivals’

"Wow, you sound like a joy"

The comments went down exactly how you probably imagined it.

"Oh hell to the no, I'm not leaving my little chaos starters with some random person I've never met before in the hopes that they watch my kids," one mum said.

Another wrote: "I don’t trust anyone so I suffer through it because I won’t leave my kid at a stranger’s house."

Then a third wrote: "Wow, you sound like a joy."

But a few mums related to Jai's feelings. 

"I preferred when the mums would leave! I don’t want to have to entertain the kids AND the parents! Just leave me the kids," someone wrote.

"Mums who give me permission to leave their kids' parties are the best kind," someone else wrote. 

And someone else joked, "I don't even want to stay at my own kid's party!"

Originally published as No, I will not stay and watch my kid at your child's birthday party