Dad won’t cancel 5-year-old’s party even though the boy is sick and can’t go

As anyone who’s thrown a birthday party knows, they are an event that can take a while to financially recover from.

This is especially the case when you’re doing it for a young child, where the entire class is generally expected to be invited.

This is why one dad has recently decided that while his five-year-old son has contracted chickenpox at the eleventh hour, the party should go ahead without the birthday boy because the event has been fully paid for.

It’s a move not at all supported by the boy’s mom, who’s written: 

“My son has just started with chickenpox, his 5th birthday party is on Saturday, all booked and paid for as of yesterday when they called me to confirm numbers.

“I can’t believe the timing of this! I said to my husband this morning that we’ll need to cancel and let parents know. He suggested we still have the party (it’s soft play) but without our son.

“Surely this is totally unfair on him? He’s been looking forward to this party for weeks. I’m so gutted for him.

“My husband’s logic is that we’ve already paid the balance and other than doing the cake and candles, we should still go ahead and his friends can enjoy soft play & the food without him.

“This makes me really sad though and what if his friends mention it when he’s back at school? That they went to his party without him.”

“This is so harsh, love it”

Commenters on the mom’s post were, quite frankly, appalled.

“What on earth kind of weirdo would host a child’s birthday without the actual birthday child?!” read one blunt comment.

Others were in disbelief that the money mattered more than the child, with one writing, “Take the hit with the monies. It’s life.”

Another shared, “I had exactly this scenario with my son, I canceled the party and rebooked, never entered my head to have his party without him.”

That is how the majority of readers felt.

“At five, you cannot have his party without him, that would be beyond awful. Better to cancel and lose the money if there’s no other option. Poor kid,” wrote one.

Another said, “Cancel the party. I can understand the logic but no, that still sucks, the son will be gutted enough, having the party anyway will rub salt into the wounds.”

This parent said more brutally, “Why is this even a question? Cancel and rebook. You can’t have a birthday party without the person in question.”

The mom did later provide this update, “I’ve just called them. They have no availability until the new year! His birthday was last week. No idea what to do now.”

But everyone else knew what to do, and many suggested cancellation.

“Postpone until the new year, gives plenty of notice for everyone else to be able to make it as the next few weeks will probably be busy for most anyway. When he’s feeling better why don’t you take him and a couple of his favorite friends for a couple of hours soft play for a missed birthday treat?” read one suggestion.

This mom was confused: “So your son is at home and his friends are whooping it up at his party in the soft play? On what planet does that sound like a kind idea?”

But our favorite response was from this cheeky woman who wrote, “This is so harsh, hahahhahaha, love it.”