A dad on Reddit has described the wild scenes that unfolded as his son’s sixth birthday party descended into chaos, leaving him to pay the venue for damages as a result.
Children’s birthday parties do not come cheap today. In 2024, the parenting website What to Expect, polled just over 400 women who were either pregnant or had at least one child up to the age of 5, on the subject of children’s birthday parties. They found respondents spent an average of $314 on their child’s birthday party.
In a post shared to Reddit last week under the handle u/Resident-Sympathy-82, Alistair, who chose not to share his full name, detailed how he was left “in tears” at what happened at his son’s sixth birthday party.
“I just wanted to share my frustration,” Alistair of Oklahoma told Newsweek. “I was so sad and upset it all went down like this.”
The problems started before the party even began when Alistair sent out invites to each of his son’s 24 classmates and asked them to RSVP. He wanted to get a clear idea of numbers for the party, which was being held at a child-friendly venue where animals would be there for kids to interact with.
“Not a single parent RSVP’ed. Not a single one. My name, my phone number, AND my spouse’s phone number was on the card,” he said. When he didn’t hear back, Alistair started inviting “anyone that we knew that had a kid.”
By the time the party rolled around, 15 kids were due to attend with food and entertainment in place for that number. Things soon took an unexpected turn though. “A few of his classmates began showing up,” Alistair said. “Then more kids started showing up.”
Alistair said he has “no idea” why no one RVSP’ed. He asked a few people at the party and got an unusual mix of responses. One told him: “I meant to call or text but forgot” while another said, “I normally work this time but I got the night off, so we decided to come last minute.”
Another said: “I called the place and told them I’d be coming” and a fourth said: “I told my kid to tell your kids.”
However, while the lack of RSVPs was frustrating, what was significantly worse for Alistair, was the fact some families decided to bring uninvited siblings with them. “One family brought 7 kids total; 3 teens, 2 slightly older kids, a girl from his classmates, and their cousin,” he said.
This led to overcrowding. “People were coming in and immediately destroying the place. At first, it was just a couple people and everyone was really nice,” Alistair said. “My son was doing the crafts and was so excited to see other kids show up. Within 15 minutes, a lot of people began showing up and I was beyond confused on what was happening.”
Alistair only realized how serious the situation had gotten when the event organizer came to him and informed him he would have to pay for every additional child. “I made an announcement that if you didn’t RSVP or you brought kids to the party who weren’t his classmates, you needed to pay separately to be there or come talk to me,” he said.
While some paid the $11 charge, which included arts and crafts, meeting the animals, a variety of free games and a goodie bag, some refused to pay, promised to pay later or simply left.
On top of this, many of the kids ended up running a riot. “The animal at the event had to be put away early because kids were being mean to it or intentionally trying to upset it,” Alistair said. “Kids were popping balloons on purpose and literally throwing their food wrappers on the floor.”
One parent even changed a dirty diaper, leaving it on a chair for someone else to deal with. What made it worse for Alistair was that many “brought no presents” for his son. “They came, played, and ate the food,” he said.
By the time Alistair decided to shut the party down, he was facing a bill of $50 to clean up the chaos left behind and a further $120 to pay for the damage done to the venue.
“I was in tears,” Alistair said. “My son is really upset that there were so many mean kids. He said this was the worst party ever and asked to not have a party for next year.”
Alistair said he shared his story on Reddit in the hope it helps kids and parents realize how harmful “not being respectful to other people can be.” He estimated he ended up paying around $200 extra in total, including paying for extra people’s attendance.
“Not only did this hurt me financially, but it hurt my son, the business itself, and an animal was harmed,” he said. “We probably won’t host another one until we get more social with other families. I don’t ever want this to happen again.”
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