Mum Forces 6-Year-Old Party Guests to Hand over Their ‘Build-A-Bear’ Creations to the Birthday Girl

A mum has made a surprisingly heartless decision at the conclusion of a kid’s birthday party which has the parents of the attendees scratching their heads in disbelief, asking each other (and the internet) if they are being entitled or not.

After celebrating the 6-year-old birthday girl’s party in the food court of a local shopping centre, the group moved over to Build-A-Bear where the children took great joy in creating whatever bear their little hearts desired.

Once the group moved back to the birthday girl’s house for the rest of the party, things took a decidedly different turn as the little girl’s mum announced that each child must now hand over their newly created bears to her daughter as part of her birthday gift.

The decision, which may have been premeditated or may have been made up on the spot, upset all the children at the party, leaving most of them in tears.

One of the party guests’ mum’s opened up about the incident on Reddit, asking if this was normal behaviour or if she was right to feel upset.

Kids birthday party: Is this normal or am I being entitled? from r/Parenting

Other parents shared their opinions on this unfamiliar situation, agreeing that it really was strange.

“That is really weird!! I can’t believe the parents made all the kids give away their bears!” wrote one parent.

“That’s so far outside the norm, I might broach the topic with the parents, as I would be concerned they don’t understand what a breach of social custom that was,” added another.

“This is so terrible I’m going to be scared to take my kids to Build-A-Bear parties. It was outside the scope of Build-A-Bear so you know the parents were cheap AF too… did they have all the other parents pay for each attendees own bears? I would have straight up said no. What kid needs half a dozen new bears for their birthday? That’s basically the “activity” for the party and your “goodie” bag. I’d have left and burnt that bridge no problem.”

Spot on! That is exactly what these bears should have been — the equivalent to a goodie bag. That’s like having a Timezone party but everyone has to give the birthday girl all their winnings before they leave instead of choosing something for themselves.

The birthday girl got traditional birthday presents from her guests as well as her own bear that she made at the party. Is that not enough without snatching other children’s bears out of their arms for her too?

If this whole thing had been explained on the invitation, it would have made sense and everyone would be fine, as this commenter wrote:

“Put it on the invitation. “No gifts, please. Each of Jane’s friends will be making a bear to give to her.” Which still sounds shitty, but jeez tell the children and parents up front.”

What do you think? Would you be happy if your little one had to hand over their bear that they had made at their friend’s birthday party? 

Source: Build-A-Bear