A mom panicking about no one coming to her daughter’s birthday party (despite inviting the whole class) sparked an online debate about RSVPs for kids’ parties
There may be nothing worse in this world than a child’s birthday party that no one shows up to. But after that almost happened to her daughter, one TikTok mom sparked a fierce online debate: do you invite the entire class to your child’s birthday party, or just close friends and family? And also, why doesn’t anyone RSVP anymore?
@sadiegau posted her original video, sharing that she invited her daughter’s entire class to a birthday party only to get just two RSVPs.
With a sad look on her face, she says to the camera, “It’s in two hours. I started panicking and I started inviting all my Facebook friends with kids and I said just show up.” She added that she had “enough stuff for like, 25 kids.”
@saddiegau Has anyone else had this happen to thier kid? #fifthbirthday
♬ original sound – Sadiegau
“I don’t know what to do,” she said in the end.
Oof. One thing is for sure: no kid deserves to have a birthday party that no one shows up to. But in the comments, some parents pointed out that sending out more invites doesn’t necessarily mean more people will come, because neither kids nor parents are super thrilled about going to a birthday party for someone they don’t know.
“I never prioritize inviting school friends. If you don’t know those parents well, they’re probably not coming to your party,” one commenter wrote. Another chimed in, “Teach her about quality over quantity. Then make the day as special as you can.”
Other parents went off on a tangent in the comments about RSVPs, and how they don’t seem to carry the same weight they used to.
“I’ve stopped doing parties because no one ever shows up and if they do RSVP they never show,” one commenter said. “We started to spend that money on experiences for our kids instead of parties. People just don’t show up like they used to,” another parent added.
In a follow-up video, @sadiegau shared that everything turned out OK in the end.
@saddiegau Update! Thank you to everyone who shared kind words with me ❤️
♬ original sound – Sadiegau
“We had a lot of my friends come through with their kids even though my kids have never met their kids before or they have briefly a few years ago. They came and they had so much fun together,” she said.
She also explained that this birthday party won’t change her opinion about including everyone in the class.
“Other kids don’t understand why they are not invited to a birthday party when they are 5. Some are even 4. So obviously I would have invited the whole class,” she explained.
Should birthday invites go out to the whole class? Or just close friends? The jury is still out, but one thing is for sure—whether you can make it or not, RSVP for parties and then follow through.
