Mom ignites discussion about whether a child's entire class should be invited to birthday parties

Kids' birthday parties have become such an over-the-top affair these days that parents experience an overwhelming pressure to host grand parties with the best food, games and venues. Especially when they know their children might feel left out if they don't get to throw a special gathering like the ones their peers have invited them to. A mom on TikTok ignited a discussion on how big such parties should be and who should be invited when she shared her concern regarding a birthday party she hosted. 

In a video posted by @sadiegau, she begins by saying that only two of her daughter's classmates RSVP'd to the party despite inviting the entire class. "I invited her whole entire class to RSVP," she says in the clip.

The mother looks quite sad in the video, she says, "It's in two hours. I started panicking and I started inviting all my Facebook friends with kids and I said just show up." She then explains that they have "enough stuff for like 25 kids." The video ends with the mother saying, "I don't know what to do."

The video went viral with more than 3 million views. It is captioned, "Has anyone else had this happen to their kid?" @h0nkykong commented, "This is the exact reason we go to EVERY birthday party we are invited to. Breaks my heart." @axel.rae.official wrote, "I’ve stopped doing parties because no one ever shows up and if they do RSVP they never show." @ambj000 expressed, "I never prioritize inviting school friends. If you don’t know those parents well, they’re probably not coming to your party." @keeping.up.with.kate1 expressed, "We started to spend that money on experiences for our kids instead of parties. People just don’t show up like they used to." 

Many seemed to be of the opinion that there is no need to invite a child's entire class to their birthday party and that parents should instead opt to invite their friends and family only. @sadiegau addressed such comments in an update video where she shared that her friends came with their kids. "We had a lot of my friends come through with their kids even though my kids have never met their kids before or they have briefly a few years ago. They came and they had so much fun together," she shares in the clip.

She adds, "So many times with other birthday parties that I have thrown for my children people RSVP at the last second and I always want to say, 'yes, of course' I never want to say, 'No, sorry we only planned for this many people, we don't have enough room for you' I can't do that. That's not me.'"

She goes on to explain that her child is in preschool and she is still learning who her friends are. "So other kids don't understand why they are not invited to a birthday party when they are 5 some are even 4 so obviously I would have invited the whole class," she says in the video. The mother added that it is never about the gifts and it is about "emotional development and getting them to learn to play with other kids."

"Thank you for your input but it is not going to change how I feel about including everyone. Of course, when they get older it will be different. Right now, they are still in the process of meeting each other and learning who they are," she says in conclusion.