When it comes to arranging kids’ birthday parties, most parents can tell you it can quickly become a bit of a minefield; where to hold it, what treats to serve up to ensure everyone is happy, how much to spend on goodie bags and, perhaps most importantly, exactly who to invite.
And one mum managed to spark debate after she revealed that she invited her daughter’s entire class to her birthday party, bar one student - but for a good reason.
Laying out the situation in a lengthy Reddit post, the mum explained why one child in particular had been excluded from the celebrations before asking: “Am I the a**hole?”
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People were quick to share their support for the mum, noting she was totally right to have made the call.
The mum explained that she made the decision not to invite one of the kids from her daughter Payton’s class because they had bullied her little girl in the past.
“The student we did not invite has bullied her several times (we've had meetings with the school and parents). Obviously Payton doesn't want this kid at her party,” she explained.
However, the bully’s mum got in contact with Payton's mum to try and iron out the situation and score her kid an invite, but Payton's mum wasn’t having any of it.
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“The other girl's mother called me to talk about it saying how now her daughter is crying [because] she was the only kid not invited and everyone at school is talking about the party. (Payton's parties are known by her classmates to be very over the top),” the mum continued.
She added: “I explained her daughter isn't nice to my daughter and that's the reason she wasn't invited (the mother knows this).
“The mother said I'm teaching my child to be a ‘bully’ and use her wealth to make friends. I disagreed.”
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Payton's mum elaborated: “The mother then asked if she had her daughter apologise and write Payton a letter we could reconsider.
“I told her we would not and it has become a big deal every time I see the mum.”
Wrapping up her post, Payton's mum said that ‘invites were not handed out in the classroom. I handed them to parents directly,’ and also gave a few examples of the type of bullying her daughter had been subjected to.
She wrote: “One time Payton came home crying because the little girl was so mean to her. Telling her she wasn’t pretty, too chubby, etc.”
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Giving another example, Payton's mum continued: “Payton has come home crying several times because the girl has told her there’s no way she’s a cheerleader (Payton does cheering on weekends) because she wasn’t ‘pretty’.”
And Redditors were quick to jump to Payton's mum’s defence, leaving comments like: “You are teaching your daughter that putting limits on people who hurt you is okay, even if she is 7 years old,”
“Kid has bullied yours so of course Payton doesn’t want her there. This is a great time for the bully’s mum to teach them that actions have consequences.”
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“It is absolutely necessary to give this girl (and her mum) an off-ramp.” someone else said.
Claire Reid