‘I charge parents when their kids come for a play date, even for electricity’
Some parents have since banned their kids from visiting the mum-of-two's house, lest they become broke.
Family Life
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A mum has been slammed online for charging other parents to visit her house for a play date.
Mum-of-two Brianna Weimar was happy to welcome her son’s friend over to her Washington home.
But while her son played with his friend, she kept a very watchful eye on their young guest.
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“Thanks for covering your share!”
She watched what the child ate, everything he drank, and even the games he played during the playdate.
Then, after the child’s parents picked him up from Brianna’s house, she sent them an invoice for everything the child consumed while he was at her house.
Every. Single. Thing.
In a now-viral video, Brianna showed a screenshot of a conversation with another mother, intended to give the woman a “heads-up.”
“I’ve sent a [payment] request for $36 (AU$55) for the food and supplies your kid used during the play date,” the text read.
“Thanks for covering your share!”
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In response, the other mother was dumbfounded by Brianna’s request.
“We received your ‘bill’ for the play date,” it began. “Thirty-six dollars for snacks and supplies? Seriously?
“I hope you enjoyed your little price-gauging scheme. Thanks for the ‘hospitality.’”
Brianna couldn’t see what the issue was at all, revealing she had “kept a running tab of everything [the woman's] son ate” and was therefore “justified in my request.”
She charged the mother for snacks and drinks, including juice boxes and ice cream bars, which, at first, doesn’t seem too unreasonable.
However, Brianna also charged the mother a $10 cleanup fee for some spilled juice and $5 to cover the “45 minutes of electricity used to play video games.”
She even threw in a $1 charge for “three squirts of soap during hand washing.”
No, I am not kidding.
A ‘heated argument” quickly ensued with the mother, who argued she shouldn’t have to pay for these things.
But Brianna saw things differently.
“I do not think I was in the wrong here,” she defended herself.
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“Food is getting so expensive now”
Due to the cost of living crisis, Brianna has taken extreme measures to save money.
“Food is getting so expensive now,” she said. “I was constantly refilling my kids’ snacks from all of their friends being over to play at our house.”
Brianna revealed she created a “very detailed spreadsheet” that tracks “all of the snacks my kids eat on a regular basis.”
“I calculate how much each individual piece of food or pump of soap costs,” she explained.
“For example, I weighed out how many ounces each pump of soap is. Then, I took the cost of the bottle of soap and divided [it] by the ounces.”
While she thinks the idea is clever, her invoices have become a controversial topic with other parents.
“Parents have been shocked, confused, angry, saying that they will not send their kids over to our house anymore,” she confessed.
Despite the backlash, she believes she was within her right to charge parents for playdates.
Why? Because she has “been charged” by another parent before.
“One time, my son broke a very valuable base at someone’s house,” she said.
“They charged me for it.”
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Originally published as ‘I charge parents when their kids come for a play date, even for electricity’