A mom on TikTok recently shared a series of emotionally charged photographs from her son’s birthday party in 2010, which was attended by just one other child.
Joanna DeRose from Dallas took to the social media platform posting as @joderose76, to revisit the party she organized for her son Russell’s birthday at a Chuck E. Cheese, while heavily pregnant, in December 2010.
The TikTok video, which was posted in June, currently has 1.2 million views and over 172,000 likes.
“The only child that attended was a year old,” DeRose told Newsweek. “We were friends with his parents.”
Organizing a child’s birthday party can be a stressful experience, with everything from the entertainment to the cake to consider. It’s also a task that’s not taken lightly by moms and dads either.
A 2023 survey of 2,000 parents with kids aged between 3 and 12 conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Kinder Joy, revealed 78 percent of respondents put pressure on themselves to make their kid’s birthday parties as amazing as possible.
DeRose certainly put work into making Russell’s birthday as memorable as possible. Unfortunately, her memories of it are tinged with sadness.
“I was so sad when none of his friends showed up,” DeRose said. “It took me back to when I had a birthday party in 6th grade. I invited a lot of friends, and only two people showed up.”
Looking back, she can still remember some of the last-minute excuses she was given. How “mom had a headache” or “the grandparents came over, and they wanted to spend time with their grandchild instead of the child going to the party.”
The fact Russell’s birthday is in December was also a factor for some of the non-attendees, with one telling DeRose: “They were going to come, but they got busy with Christmas shopping.”
But despite feeling a sense of personal frustration at what happened, Russell ended up having the best time.
“My son didn’t have a care in the world,” she said. “He was just happy to be at Chuck E. Cheese. I’ll never forget how excited he got when he was Chuck E and his cake. That kept me going that day.”
The pictures on TikTok certainly suggest Russell had a great time. That’s partly why his mom decided to share them online, more than a decade later.
“My experiences might help someone feel less alone who had the same experience,” she said. “I wish I had focused more on enjoying the moment with my son instead of worrying about people not showing up.”
DeRose said the family decided to take a different approach to birthdays after what happened that year. “We didn’t do birthday parties after this,” she said. “We did experiences instead. As he got older, he would invite a couple of friends.”
Though the memory of what happened still stings for DeRose, the good news is that it didn’t leave much of an impression on Russell at all. “He doesn’t remember that day,” she added. “He’s a teenager now and is always with his friends.”
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