Mom Is 5 Hours Late To Pick Up Her Son From A Birthday Party, Gets Him Uninvited From The Next Celebration, The Mom Gets Mad At The Host
Being a parent is a hard task requiring a lot of responsibility. So no one can understand a parent better than another parent. Keeping good relationships with other parents is important in order to set a good example for your kids and this way make sure that they’ll have friends that will treat them right. However, in life, there are situations where keeping a good relationship with someone becomes hard because of their behavior. At least that’s what happened to Reddit user @emu_party7894, who is a mom to her 10-year-old son and who encountered a careless parent she decided not to deal with any longer.
More Info: Reddit
Organizing a kid’s party might seem like a lot of work, but seeing their excitement is worth the hassle
Image credits: Emran Kassim
The woman decided to share her story to find out if she was right to tell the truth to her son’s friend’s mom. The woman revealed that before her son turned 10, she used to invite his friend James, who also was his classmate. The kid, who behaved very well, had a mom who actually became the issue. The woman recalled her son’s previous birthday when James was invited along with 3 other friends. On the invite, the narrator wrote that all kids should be picked up by 11 AM the next day because the family had plans to visit their relatives.
One Reddit user decided to share a situation after which she decided not to invite one of her kid’s friends anymore
To people’s surprise, the problem wasn’t the kid’s behavior but rather his mom’s
The narrator revealed that his mom kept failing to pick him up on time, together ruining their family’s plans
Image credits: emu_party7894
After the birthday party, the next day, all kids were picked up by the exact hour—the only kid that was left was James. At first, Reddit user wasn’t thinking anything bad, just assumed that his mother was on the way, but was late because she was running some errands. At 11:30AM, the woman texted James’ mom to remind her that she needed to pick up her son as they were about to leave the house themselves. And indeed, the woman replied that she was already on her way.
Even though the woman was constantly reminded to take her kid, she only showed up when it was threatened to call the police
Image credits: emu_party7894
12:30 rolled around and James was still at the family’s house. The narrator once again reached out to the mom as they had to hurry up themselves. She got a reply saying that she was out for lunch and would come to pick her son as soon as possible. The Reddit user continued to ask the mom to come and take her kid until 4PM came and the narrator’s husband had already left with the kids to go and see their relatives. This is when the woman called James’ mom and told her that if she didn’t get there in the next 30 minutes, she would call the police to let them know that there was “an abandoned child” at their house. Her last try to contact the mother resulted in her actually showing up and taking her kid. The woman apologized, but it was the last straw. From that day, the narrator decided not to invite the boy to their parties because of his mom’s behavior.
This year, her kid was not invited to the party and after finding out why, the mother got really upset
Image credits: emu_party7894
So this year, when the Reddit user’s son turned 10, James was not invited to the celebration and soon his mom found out about this. She wanted to know why her son was not invited, so she asked this and the woman told the whole truth about how she didn’t want to invite her kid because it ended up ruining their plans for the next day, as she couldn’t come on time. This resulted in James’ mom being upset and blocking the narrator from social media and her contacts.
Image credits: emu_party7894
The woman wanted to know if she was right to tell the truth and a lot of people online were on her side. They all agreed that James’ mom was looking at their family as babysitters and didn’t take into account that they have plans of their own. It was agreed that the woman had problems with time management as it turned out later, her husband never failed to pick their kids up on time.
What do you think about this situation? Have you ever experienced something similar? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments down below!
People online supported the narrator as it was quite clear that the mother used their family as a babysitter
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Totally lost me when her "excuse" was that she was eating lunch. Without her kid. Assuming that the party hosts would be feeding him?
11:30 -"On the way" 12:30 -"Eating lunch" This would have been the first clue that #1 is a lie and this person can't be trusted, but I understand not wanting to escalate immediately.
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I used to have a friend who was chronically late all the time for everything. If you had an appointment with her at 10:00 you should expect her to come at 11:00 or 12:00, waiting for her outside on some bus stop, for example. One time I was at her home, and I knew she had an agreement for 14:00 with a friend, so when it passed 13:00 I said, "Girl, you have to meet X at 14:00, you still want to take a shower and do make up, you also have 40 minutes to get there, you should start preparing", and she still wandered around, doing nothing, and went out the door at 16:00, 2 hours past her appointment with her other friend. I am no longer friends with her, because she doesn't respect people's time and it infuriated me so much.
Used to have a friend, who was exactly like the person you've mentioned. Never ever reached anywhere on time, never completed any task or assignment on time, never even once reached her workplace on time. E
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I have this exact same problem with one of my kid's friends. It's been going on for as long as they've known each other – probably 7 years. Every time we invite the kid over for a birthday party or just for whatever the older-kid version of a playdate is these days. I specifically always give a time when she has to be picked up by her parents and they are always late. They always have some kind of lame excuse but aren't particularly apologetic and don't seem to see the problem. As a matter of fact I don't particularly like the parents at all, they are rude assholes. But I keep inviting the kid because she's a really good kid and I like her a lot. But the parents drive me up the damn wall. (I don't have any kind of advice or input, I'm just ranting.)
Give a fake time (like an earlier time) so when they're late they come at the real time
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We have this constantly with school-related events, especially ones that run into the night. We have often phoned parents to pick up their kids and asked why they're late, only to be told, "Oh, we were sleeping." WHO GOES TO SLEEP BEFORE PICKING UP THEIR CHILD?!
I ran into this as a teacher with a parent who was chronically late picking up her daughter . Great kid. Horrible mom. There are laws in our area about child abandonment. Certain amount of time after when they were supposed to be picked up you call the police. They come pick up the child. Usually one time does it. The parents all know the rules. This one mom left me watching the child after a skate party fundraiser. Skate rink was closed. We were in the parking lot for hours waiting. In the dark. The daughter said it happened all the time. Some times she just didn't show up at all. I let the principal know. She talked to the mom and let her know the law. The next time the police would be involved. It didn't happen again. The daughter was mortified with embarrassment. I did not mention it to the class. These rules applied about picking them up after school too.
If she's that busy, time to reduce the number of activities her kids are in. They must never have time to just be kids and play.
Totally NTA, I love that you threatened to call the police about abandoning her kid lol That was THE best possible move you could've done. I feel terrible for her son, he's going to suffer because of his moms crazy ass behaviour
yeah, poor kid is not invited to have fun with friends just bc an uncaring mom
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"sorry I'm not picking up my kid in time cos I'm having lunch" wtf. I'd get my kid then have lunch. or skip lunch if i have no other option.
There's a big difference between chronically late and not showing up for 5 hours. The woman is taking liberties. But it's not fair that the child should be punished for the sins of the mother. I think I'd try for dropping the child back home myself, or at least getting the number of someone else in the family to call if the mother doesn't show up. But sounds like a dreadful mother.
Unfortunately kids lives are impacted by their slopes parents well in to their adult lives
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The OP is not a daycare for kids. If someone can't handle having 4 kids, than shouldn't have 4 kids.
Chronically late is up to half an hour… This was not “chronically late”. This was I don’t want to worry about my kid for a few more hours with a huge heaping of I don’t care about anyone else other then myself. Listen it’s okay to want and need a break from your kids, and you should absolutely schedule that in for yourself… but not like this this is just wrong.
When my daughters have slumber parties, their guests are asked to be dropped off by their parents, but my husband and I take the kids home the following morning after breakfast. The end time for the sleepover is clear. We pack the kids up and take them home at the designated hour. Never had a problem.
Possibly no one is at home - they can't in good conscious leave a child alone.
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The worst part is that the mother is disrupting the boy's birthday as well. I'm sure he would want to do other things on his birthday.
Anything over two hours with no sign of useless mum, call the police and social services. the child is being neglected/abandoned and let them deal with her. It is blatant emotional abuse and that kid deserves better.
Huhh, I was downvoted just because I have never let that kid visit us again whose parents came to pick him up four hours later...
Load More Replies... Maybe I'm the odd one out, but I would have just taken James with us wherever we had to go. Imagine being a kid that your own parent couldn't care less about, the kind of damage it does. Imagine the rage and helplessness at being punished for something over which you have no control as a child. Imagine the shame. Maybe the memories of being included in a loving family could offset some of this, of feeling you are an interesting person that people want to spend time and take you along. James could even see and learn what a loving family looks like, have a model to aspire to when he has his own family.
Yeah but It would only enable the mother more in the future, and it won't be fair to the other responsible parents. I would explain to the kid as much as he is a nice boy that unless his mother picks him up on time he can attend any of my my parties and that I'd love him here.
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Since the husband seems to be fine, I’d have a convo with him. If the husband is going to pick up the kid, the kid will be invited. If the kid isn’t picked up in the future, just call the police.
I'd definitely invite the kid next time. Only I would pick the child up and drop the child back off. I would speak to mom and let her know I'll be doing pick and drop off at whatever time. I say that Because of her past behavior, it seems like she doesn't want to deal with it. So offering up pick up drop off would be how I handle the situation. So the child isn't being punished Because of lack of parenting. Since the mom likes putting stuff off on other people. She'd be more than willing for me to do so.
My daughter's best friend's family is somewhat like that, always at least an hour late, even to her Covid-era birthday parties when she was the only friend able to come. Greatly upsets my daughter, as she's super punctual and responsible 😢
Nope. The Third call should have been Officer John Law calling her from the precinct. Next I would send a text to she AND her husband with the child's location and WHY he was there And I would have blocked HER then went on with my day.
It sounds like she's having an affair and ditching kids on people to find the time for it.
Another possible scenario—-one of many besides the one in the posting. She could also have mental or emotional issues, or an alcohol or drug problem where it ends up taking her 5 hours to pull herself back together. We just don’t have enough context to know for sure.
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I feel so bad for the kid. It's not her fault that her mom's a loser. The mom dropped you from her social media? That's cause for celebration.
I don't understand. How far away did this kid live? And did you not know the boy's address? I would have got everyone ready to go to your parents' home, and dropped the boy off on the way. If his parents weren't home, I'd drop him off at the police station. I consider people like that VERY rude, and that's just being late "normally." People who treat you like a daycare need to be given a real jolt to smarten them up. Having to pick your child up from a police station or child services building should do it.
I would have called the Police at the "I'm eating lunch" part of the story.
That's really unfortunate for her son, but it's his mothers fault. Zero respect for other people, and the fact she was blatant with the disrespect the year before, I think not inviting was the right decision.
I would take her kid to my in law's and inform her that she has to come there to collect her son and if she is late am contacting police about child neglect.
So , you cut the relationship between your son and his friend who he likes and the kid himself was a good kid? As a housewife some working mom are sometimes late to pick their kids and I don’t mind actually , you could of just take him with you to your relatives just take it easy not a big deal and , James mom made a mistake and she might be stupid dealing with people but yo could of been more flexible your in laws wouldn’t mind another little guest I guess
In a perfect world sloppy people shouldn't be able to have kids. But... I really feel sorry for that kid. My ex-in-law (my brother and she has divorced past year) was this kind of people. She's a good person and a good friend but totally sloppy mom. I feel bad about my three nephews and try to be supportive to them whenever I can.
Well, you are punishing the son for his mom'S dumb behaviour. So, yes, at least somewhat of an asshole
This happened to my mother and my birthday parties with a particular child. His parents were always late and it was obviously this was not a "chronic" problem, my mother was just the babysitter they didn't have to pay for. She only had to deal with them for a few years, but I have no doubt at some point in the future she would've done the same as this mother. It sucks the children are being punished, but if the mother doesn't figure it out, missing out on party will be least of this kid's worries.
I don't know why being blocked on social media is considered a punishment. From James' callous asshole mom? I'd WELCOME it! HAPPY never to have to see her, hear her or speak to her again!
When people call you “uppity” it’s almost always people that just feel low(ity) about themselves. That goes for lots of you Pandas when you say that shît too.
Short of personally dropping their kid back at their own home, or having the kid carpool with another parent to your home for these activities, I'd say tell the father who seems responsible about this issue an why the kid isn't invited. Not because of the kid but because the mom can't get her act together to realize others aren't her babysitters.
But what if the parents are no where to be found when the OP goes to drop off the kid?? This whole situation is crap.
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Soooo ... don't punish the poor kid by making him an outcast with his friends. He's probably already severely neglected and sad. Call the DAD. Or send the kid in a taxi that mom has to pay for. Or just take him with you then charge her for babysitting.
I get what you're saying but the late parents are the ones punishing the poor kId, not the OP. It's the late parents who are making their child an outcast, not the OP. I highly doubt the dad has no idea his wife is like this. He should step up and get in front of the problem or he is part of the problem. Transferring blame to the victims is unfair.
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Why would texting change anything? If the woman knew she was supposed to pick up her child at 11, that would still have been the case prior to texting? (I'm 53, fyi.) (I agree about women often shouldering most of the burden of shuttling kids around.)
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Exclusion is certainly not bullying. Your saying everyone has to be invited to everything or you are a bully? Who invites everyone they know to every single thing they do? Who has the space and money for that? Who has time to organize such large gatherings? Who wants to me forced to spend to spend birthdays with people who they don't like or worse, people who bully them? That's nuts!
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I feel you should have made it clear to the child's parents that you were only okay with a two hour stay. Instead, you punished your son, his friend, and the other parents needlessly.
Load More Replies... Delusional eurotrash with no travel experience outside of Europe thinks people are only late in the USA.
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But realistically, how can OP 'punish' the parent without affecting the kid?
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Ok, if that mum was too busy then she should have either NOT taken her child to the party, make alternate plans like getting dad to pick the kid up or at the very least, straight up told OP the truth and the actual time to expect her. By lying (I'm on the way!) and giving vague excuses (lunch is not a good reason btw), it inconvenienced OP's entire family - its 5 whole hours, not 50 minutes. Assuming that mum was struggling, the onus is on her to seek help and not expect outsiders to bear the cost when its not their responsibility.
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Totally lost me when her "excuse" was that she was eating lunch. Without her kid. Assuming that the party hosts would be feeding him?
11:30 -"On the way" 12:30 -"Eating lunch" This would have been the first clue that #1 is a lie and this person can't be trusted, but I understand not wanting to escalate immediately.
Load More Replies... I used to have a friend who was chronically late all the time for everything. If you had an appointment with her at 10:00 you should expect her to come at 11:00 or 12:00, waiting for her outside on some bus stop, for example. One time I was at her home, and I knew she had an agreement for 14:00 with a friend, so when it passed 13:00 I said, "Girl, you have to meet X at 14:00, you still want to take a shower and do make up, you also have 40 minutes to get there, you should start preparing", and she still wandered around, doing nothing, and went out the door at 16:00, 2 hours past her appointment with her other friend. I am no longer friends with her, because she doesn't respect people's time and it infuriated me so much.
Used to have a friend, who was exactly like the person you've mentioned. Never ever reached anywhere on time, never completed any task or assignment on time, never even once reached her workplace on time. E
Load More Replies... I have this exact same problem with one of my kid's friends. It's been going on for as long as they've known each other – probably 7 years. Every time we invite the kid over for a birthday party or just for whatever the older-kid version of a playdate is these days. I specifically always give a time when she has to be picked up by her parents and they are always late. They always have some kind of lame excuse but aren't particularly apologetic and don't seem to see the problem. As a matter of fact I don't particularly like the parents at all, they are rude assholes. But I keep inviting the kid because she's a really good kid and I like her a lot. But the parents drive me up the damn wall. (I don't have any kind of advice or input, I'm just ranting.)
Give a fake time (like an earlier time) so when they're late they come at the real time
Load More Replies... We have this constantly with school-related events, especially ones that run into the night. We have often phoned parents to pick up their kids and asked why they're late, only to be told, "Oh, we were sleeping." WHO GOES TO SLEEP BEFORE PICKING UP THEIR CHILD?!
I ran into this as a teacher with a parent who was chronically late picking up her daughter . Great kid. Horrible mom. There are laws in our area about child abandonment. Certain amount of time after when they were supposed to be picked up you call the police. They come pick up the child. Usually one time does it. The parents all know the rules. This one mom left me watching the child after a skate party fundraiser. Skate rink was closed. We were in the parking lot for hours waiting. In the dark. The daughter said it happened all the time. Some times she just didn't show up at all. I let the principal know. She talked to the mom and let her know the law. The next time the police would be involved. It didn't happen again. The daughter was mortified with embarrassment. I did not mention it to the class. These rules applied about picking them up after school too.
If she's that busy, time to reduce the number of activities her kids are in. They must never have time to just be kids and play.
Totally NTA, I love that you threatened to call the police about abandoning her kid lol That was THE best possible move you could've done. I feel terrible for her son, he's going to suffer because of his moms crazy ass behaviour
yeah, poor kid is not invited to have fun with friends just bc an uncaring mom
Load More Replies... "sorry I'm not picking up my kid in time cos I'm having lunch" wtf. I'd get my kid then have lunch. or skip lunch if i have no other option.
There's a big difference between chronically late and not showing up for 5 hours. The woman is taking liberties. But it's not fair that the child should be punished for the sins of the mother. I think I'd try for dropping the child back home myself, or at least getting the number of someone else in the family to call if the mother doesn't show up. But sounds like a dreadful mother.
Unfortunately kids lives are impacted by their slopes parents well in to their adult lives
Load More Replies... The OP is not a daycare for kids. If someone can't handle having 4 kids, than shouldn't have 4 kids.
Chronically late is up to half an hour… This was not “chronically late”. This was I don’t want to worry about my kid for a few more hours with a huge heaping of I don’t care about anyone else other then myself. Listen it’s okay to want and need a break from your kids, and you should absolutely schedule that in for yourself… but not like this this is just wrong.
When my daughters have slumber parties, their guests are asked to be dropped off by their parents, but my husband and I take the kids home the following morning after breakfast. The end time for the sleepover is clear. We pack the kids up and take them home at the designated hour. Never had a problem.
Possibly no one is at home - they can't in good conscious leave a child alone.
Load More Replies... The worst part is that the mother is disrupting the boy's birthday as well. I'm sure he would want to do other things on his birthday.
Anything over two hours with no sign of useless mum, call the police and social services. the child is being neglected/abandoned and let them deal with her. It is blatant emotional abuse and that kid deserves better.
Huhh, I was downvoted just because I have never let that kid visit us again whose parents came to pick him up four hours later...
Load More Replies... Maybe I'm the odd one out, but I would have just taken James with us wherever we had to go. Imagine being a kid that your own parent couldn't care less about, the kind of damage it does. Imagine the rage and helplessness at being punished for something over which you have no control as a child. Imagine the shame. Maybe the memories of being included in a loving family could offset some of this, of feeling you are an interesting person that people want to spend time and take you along. James could even see and learn what a loving family looks like, have a model to aspire to when he has his own family.
Yeah but It would only enable the mother more in the future, and it won't be fair to the other responsible parents. I would explain to the kid as much as he is a nice boy that unless his mother picks him up on time he can attend any of my my parties and that I'd love him here.
Load More Replies... Since the husband seems to be fine, I’d have a convo with him. If the husband is going to pick up the kid, the kid will be invited. If the kid isn’t picked up in the future, just call the police.
I'd definitely invite the kid next time. Only I would pick the child up and drop the child back off. I would speak to mom and let her know I'll be doing pick and drop off at whatever time. I say that Because of her past behavior, it seems like she doesn't want to deal with it. So offering up pick up drop off would be how I handle the situation. So the child isn't being punished Because of lack of parenting. Since the mom likes putting stuff off on other people. She'd be more than willing for me to do so.
My daughter's best friend's family is somewhat like that, always at least an hour late, even to her Covid-era birthday parties when she was the only friend able to come. Greatly upsets my daughter, as she's super punctual and responsible 😢
Nope. The Third call should have been Officer John Law calling her from the precinct. Next I would send a text to she AND her husband with the child's location and WHY he was there And I would have blocked HER then went on with my day.
It sounds like she's having an affair and ditching kids on people to find the time for it.
Another possible scenario—-one of many besides the one in the posting. She could also have mental or emotional issues, or an alcohol or drug problem where it ends up taking her 5 hours to pull herself back together. We just don’t have enough context to know for sure.
Load More Replies... I feel so bad for the kid. It's not her fault that her mom's a loser. The mom dropped you from her social media? That's cause for celebration.
I don't understand. How far away did this kid live? And did you not know the boy's address? I would have got everyone ready to go to your parents' home, and dropped the boy off on the way. If his parents weren't home, I'd drop him off at the police station. I consider people like that VERY rude, and that's just being late "normally." People who treat you like a daycare need to be given a real jolt to smarten them up. Having to pick your child up from a police station or child services building should do it.
I would have called the Police at the "I'm eating lunch" part of the story.
That's really unfortunate for her son, but it's his mothers fault. Zero respect for other people, and the fact she was blatant with the disrespect the year before, I think not inviting was the right decision.
I would take her kid to my in law's and inform her that she has to come there to collect her son and if she is late am contacting police about child neglect.
So , you cut the relationship between your son and his friend who he likes and the kid himself was a good kid? As a housewife some working mom are sometimes late to pick their kids and I don’t mind actually , you could of just take him with you to your relatives just take it easy not a big deal and , James mom made a mistake and she might be stupid dealing with people but yo could of been more flexible your in laws wouldn’t mind another little guest I guess
In a perfect world sloppy people shouldn't be able to have kids. But... I really feel sorry for that kid. My ex-in-law (my brother and she has divorced past year) was this kind of people. She's a good person and a good friend but totally sloppy mom. I feel bad about my three nephews and try to be supportive to them whenever I can.
Well, you are punishing the son for his mom'S dumb behaviour. So, yes, at least somewhat of an asshole
This happened to my mother and my birthday parties with a particular child. His parents were always late and it was obviously this was not a "chronic" problem, my mother was just the babysitter they didn't have to pay for. She only had to deal with them for a few years, but I have no doubt at some point in the future she would've done the same as this mother. It sucks the children are being punished, but if the mother doesn't figure it out, missing out on party will be least of this kid's worries.
I don't know why being blocked on social media is considered a punishment. From James' callous asshole mom? I'd WELCOME it! HAPPY never to have to see her, hear her or speak to her again!
When people call you “uppity” it’s almost always people that just feel low(ity) about themselves. That goes for lots of you Pandas when you say that shît too.
Short of personally dropping their kid back at their own home, or having the kid carpool with another parent to your home for these activities, I'd say tell the father who seems responsible about this issue an why the kid isn't invited. Not because of the kid but because the mom can't get her act together to realize others aren't her babysitters.
But what if the parents are no where to be found when the OP goes to drop off the kid?? This whole situation is crap.
Load More Replies... Soooo ... don't punish the poor kid by making him an outcast with his friends. He's probably already severely neglected and sad. Call the DAD. Or send the kid in a taxi that mom has to pay for. Or just take him with you then charge her for babysitting.
I get what you're saying but the late parents are the ones punishing the poor kId, not the OP. It's the late parents who are making their child an outcast, not the OP. I highly doubt the dad has no idea his wife is like this. He should step up and get in front of the problem or he is part of the problem. Transferring blame to the victims is unfair.
Load More Replies... Why would texting change anything? If the woman knew she was supposed to pick up her child at 11, that would still have been the case prior to texting? (I'm 53, fyi.) (I agree about women often shouldering most of the burden of shuttling kids around.)
Load More Replies... Exclusion is certainly not bullying. Your saying everyone has to be invited to everything or you are a bully? Who invites everyone they know to every single thing they do? Who has the space and money for that? Who has time to organize such large gatherings? Who wants to me forced to spend to spend birthdays with people who they don't like or worse, people who bully them? That's nuts!
Load More Replies... I feel you should have made it clear to the child's parents that you were only okay with a two hour stay. Instead, you punished your son, his friend, and the other parents needlessly.
Load More Replies... Delusional eurotrash with no travel experience outside of Europe thinks people are only late in the USA.
Load More Replies... But realistically, how can OP 'punish' the parent without affecting the kid?
Load More Replies... Ok, if that mum was too busy then she should have either NOT taken her child to the party, make alternate plans like getting dad to pick the kid up or at the very least, straight up told OP the truth and the actual time to expect her. By lying (I'm on the way!) and giving vague excuses (lunch is not a good reason btw), it inconvenienced OP's entire family - its 5 whole hours, not 50 minutes. Assuming that mum was struggling, the onus is on her to seek help and not expect outsiders to bear the cost when its not their responsibility.
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