When kids get to the age where they can be invited to a birthday party and dropped off without us having to stay, it's kind of nice. It's not that we don't like being social occasionally, but a couple of hours apart is good for everyone, and we are grateful to the parents who host our children. But how long is too long for a kid's birthday party?
TikTok mom Teray, who posts on the app as @moderatelycomfy, posted her reaction to dropping her daughter off at a seven-hour-long birthday party, and she was positively shocked. The mom admits that she was shocked another mom would take on 15 young kids for that long and said there is no way she could do it.
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This is apparently the party house.
After her reaction went viral with 2.3 million views, Teray explained to People that the house where her daughter was invited is an amazing place.
"We live in a very small community. We know the family and they're fantastic. Our daughter has had play dates there before and we know what the backyard is like. It is the go-to backyard for anybody, even adults," she said.
Teray knew there would be swimming and playing and she just wanted to be sure that her daughter would be OK.
"We didn't have any reservations about leaving her there for seven hours because we did know them. Still, a lot can happen in seven hours, right?" she explained. "Our daughter still wears a life jacket. We were going back and forth with, we didn't want her to be made fun of, so that was the big thing that we were concerned about, the water safety side of things."
Her reaction to the invitation caught the attention of millions.
Teray said she didn't expect her video to take off, and when it did, some people misinterpreted what she was saying. She said she "simply could never," but she wasn't judging the family. Instead she was impressed.
"All of my videos relate to me as a mother with autism and ADHD. My normal followers could understand what I was getting at, but I didn't give enough context for the random person to understand why I was saying I could never do this," she explained. "Unfortunately, because so many people don't know what I usually talk about, they assumed I was being judgmental of her rather than being in awe of her."
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The party was great.
Teray told People the other mom did a fantastic job and that her daughter loved the party.
"She did all the things you could possibly want a mom in this situation to do when they're watching your child. I can say she was constantly making sure the girls were all lined up to do their layers of sunscreen," the mom shared. "She made sure the hot tub was at a comfortable temperature. She even offered a quiet space with a movie going for anybody who needed to decompress, so that was awesome."
Teray shared her video as a thank you to that mom. Teray explained to People that as someone who is neurodivergent living with ADHD and autism, it's not something she would ever do.
"The whole purpose of the video was to say how in awe of that mom I am. There wasn't a judgmental part of it at all," she said. "She really did think of all of the things. My daughter did have a blast."
The mom hopes other people will see that it's OK to be different.
In a follow-up video, Teray addressed TikTokers coming to her page after her viral fame. She said many people initially criticized her original video, claiming the party wasn't that big of a deal, but to her, it was. Teray hopes this will help people see that all parents are different and not everyone processes things the same way.
This person agreed, commenting, "I can't do birthday parties at all right now. I'm sure other parents wonder why my parents are the ones bringing my children. I wish more people were understanding of invisible disabilities."
And this person loved the idea. "I bet she had a time of her life, hanging out with her friends and Mom may have been planning this for awhile. GirlMoms Rock!" the person wrote.
