A school mum pulled this 'cheeky' party move; it cost me $300

Is this 'entitled' stunt the ultimate birthday faux pas?

2 min read

October 8, 2024 - 1:45PM

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The cost of one mum’s school-aged child's birthday suddenly skyrocketed because of the ‘entitled’ actions of one school mum.

Lauren Libin, a mum of two, told The Sun that she was planning a party for her youngest child, six, when the other parent pulled the cheeky move.

Lauren opted to throw the event at a large soft play venue and says her son was “super keen” to have a big party with his school friends.

“He is in a class of 20 children, so it seemed the fairest thing to do was invite all of them,” Lauren told the publication.

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The 'cheeky' party move

So, she put together a quick WhatsApp invitation and sent it to the class WhatsApp group.

People started replying and adding the name of their child to an ongoing list as per the RSVP instructions.

Then one mum, who was the 10th to confirm, added both the name of her daughter and her younger sibling to the list, without messaging Lauren to check if this was okay first.

“I was immediately shocked,” she admitted, “as I thought it was obvious when inviting a child to a paid-for party (not a party at your own home) that it would be just the child in question invited, not their sibling(s).”

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Although annoyed and taken aback by this, Lauren decided not to respond as her husband told her it would come across as petty, but she desperately wanted to let the mum know that this was just for the child in her son’s year, not their sibling.

However, it seems that the mum’s actions inspired copycats, as other parents saw what she had done and added their own uninvited children to the list, too.

“Some people might think I am being petty, but this message from one parent that others saw as the sign it was okay to add their other children to the list cost me an extra $300!” Lauren claimed.

Now, she wishes she had messaged straight back to the parent who added the first sibling and said no.

Image: IStock

"Lesson learnt"

Personally, Lauren says it’s never okay to add a sibling to a list unless you check with the hosting parent first.

“Not only do you pay for the sibling to attend the party (which wasn’t cheap), feed and water them, but you of course, have to provide them with a party bag too,” she pointed out.

“Plus, most six-year-olds do not want an extra 10 younger children that aren’t their friends at their party! As all the siblings were younger (one to four years old), this also changed the dynamic, as the bigger boys wanted to play rough in the soft play and constantly had to watch out for toddlers around their feet.”

In the end, Lauren’s son had 15 friends from his class and 10 of their siblings.

She concluded that she had “learnt her lesson” and next year is a “strictly a name on the invite kind of party!”