kids

A mum is invoicing the kids who don't show up to her daughter's party. Is she on to something?

When one mum’s daughter was about to turn 16, she decided to organise something special to celebrate the occasion.

It was the first ‘party’ her daughter would have in five years, and she wanted to do something “fun and unusual”.

She saved for months and put down a deposit for the activity, which required a minimum of ten participants.

Then, a day before the big event, the RSVPs started to change.

birthday cake candles
Image via Getty.

"Tonight three people [have said] they are not coming," she wrote on a mumsnet post.

"Two have yet to say yes or no. Out of 12 (including daughter). Minimum for activity is 10.

"Just when did people become so rude and unfeeling never mind unconscious of wasting money?"

Now the mother has decided to do something drastic: She wants to send an invoice to those who were no-shows to the event.

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"Am I being unreasonable...to send a terse note to these families? And maybe an invoice?"

The desperate mum turned to mumsnet for help.

While some agreed that the teens were being inconsiderate, many added that at 16, it may be up to the friend group to talk among themselves.

"I can understand how tempting it is to say something, but at 16 years old, I think you have to let them sort it out themselves," a fellow mum wrote.

"Does your daughter want you to contact the parents? If she is okay with it, I think I might contact them," another wrote.

"They might not realise that you paid for it and need ten participants and when their daughters are saying they don't want to go now they are just seeing an opportunity not to drive, not thinking through what it will mean to you and your daughter."

LISTEN: There's now an app that lets you register gifts for your child's birthday party.
Yep.

The original poster added that her daughter was "very, very upset" at the news some of her friends had dropped out so close to the event.

"My deepest fear is that the ones who have declined tonight are the polite ones and that others simply won't show," she added.

"Teenagers can be so unkind to each other," one user commented.

"I cringe when I think of some of the things my friends and I did as teens. We were so careless of other people's feelings."

Others offered up what could just be the best birthday present of all: some solid life advice.

"Humour heals and personal pain often makes for the best stories later in life!" one woman wrote.

LISTEN to the latest episode of Mamamia's parenting podcast, This Glorious Mess:

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