Even when she didn’t have enough money to throw a birthday party for her daughter, one mom still wanted her little one to feel special on her birthday. Her daughter wanted a party, and she didn’t have the heart to tell her that they couldn’t afford to celebrate in that way. Trying her best to think of a solution, the mom sent our invites to people in her community and told them her daughter’s birthday party would be at a local park.
She noted that if guests could bring food, it would be appreciated, but it definitely wasn’t expected. However, other parents told her that she shouldn’t have had the party at all if she couldn’t afford it.
The mom did what she could do at the time.
In a post shared via Threads, the mom, May Blue, admitted that she didn’t have enough money for party bags for the kids who attended. Instead, she gave them balloons. Speaking to Newsweek, she said she only had about $15 to spend because her husband had recently lost his job.
The fact that her daughter really wanted a birthday party made her feel “terrible,” she told the publication.
A lot of other parents are still gossiping about the birthday party.
In her post on Threads, May asked others to weigh in after finding out that other parents were still “gossiping” about her attempt to throw a birthday party for her daughter on a limited budget.
“Am I in the wrong?” May wrote. “A few years ago, I couldn’t afford a birthday party for my daughter. She really wanted one. So I sent out invites for a birthday party at the local park, with a note ‘optional: if you are able to bring a plate it is greatly appreciated.'”
At the end of the post, she added that she “just found out that local [moms] still gossip about this, saying ‘if you can’t afford a birthday party, you shouldn’t have one.'”
People showed up for the party.
Even though the mom noted that bringing food to the party was optional, she told Newsweek that all of the guests brought something. May also brought food to the party, though it was not enough for the entire group.
The fact that other families would attend the party, bring food, and then complain about it surprised the mom. She told Newsweek, “I can’t imagine doing something optional and then being resentful about it.”
Many people praised the mom for doing what she could.
View on Threads
Not every birthday celebration has to be extravagant, regardless of what other parents say. Many people on Threads sided with the mom and told her to ignore the other parents’ opinions.
“‘If you can’t afford a HUGE Extravaganza of a party, you should do what you can,'” one person responded. “There. Fixed it. You did great, Mama.”
Another person wrote: “Any mom who judges another mom while she’s doing her best is acting like a troll. Being a mom is hard enough without that nonsense.”
Others said modest birthday parties need to be normalized again because birthday parties are “getting out of control” nowadays. “I’d love to see relaxed birthday parties make a comeback,” a third person responded. “I’m sick to death of parents that have to outdo the last party that someone had. Let the kids have fun.”
While the majority of people sided with the mom, a few people were critical of her approach. “I agree with the moms🥴asking parents to bring a plate to a kids party is kinda crazy,” one person argued. “Baby girl just wouldn’t have had a party. Maybe just some cake and ice cream for her class would’ve been better.”
At the same time, others saw no issue with offering help to a struggling family. “The only appropriate response to a request to bring plates is ‘Do you need anything else?'” someone else said. “‘How can I help?’ is a close second.”
