🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Thousands of internet commenters were quick to call out one parent who explained why they repeatedly threatened to cancel their 11-year-old's recent birthday party.
In a viral Reddit post published on r/AmITheA**hole, Redditor u/Aita4899 (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) said they ultimately chose not to cancel the party, but ensured there was a week of "crying and begging" leading up to the celebration.
Titled, "[Am I the a**hole] for telling my child I canceled her birthday party?" the post has received nearly 10,000 votes and 3,300 comments in the last seven hours.
Writing that they got into a heated argument with their daughter last week, the original poster said they were swift in stopping any rudeness in its tracks.
"She talked back and was rude (which she does a lot) so I told her [I'm gonna] cancel her 11th birthday party," OP wrote. "She apologized and asked [me] not to cancel it but I said no."
"The whole week she was crying and begging me not to cancel it," OP continued. "She even tried to convince me to buy her [a] small cake and only invite family (it was supposed to be a big party with all her friends because she didn't have any parties for the last few years because of covid)."
After a few days of desperate pleas, the original poster said they regretted their decision to cancel and set out to make it right. Unfortunately, however, the damage had already been done.
"I felt bad about it and arranged a surprise birthday party for her," OP wrote.
"I thought [she'd] be happy and she looked happy in her party but after everyone left she [started] crying again and called me an [a**hole] for letting her cry for a week," OP added.
The cancellation of children's birthday parties because of bad behavior is highly-debated across the internet.
On numerous parenting forums and other social media sites like MumsNet, I'm A Mother, BabyCenter and Facebook, parents around the world have weighed in and largely dispersed into two camps.
While some parents strongly believe that canceling a child's birthday party (or preventing them from attending a friend's) is a suitable punishment for extreme cases and is sure to drive home whatever lesson needs to be learned, others scoff at the notion, noting that a canceled birthday can compromise emotional development at early ages.
Recently, Newsweek reported on a Reddit thread in which one stepfather explained why he kept his stepson from attending his best friend's birthday party as punishment for constantly antagonizing his 11-year-old daughter.
Despite a negative reaction from his wife and expected fury from his stepson, Redditors responding to the stepfather applauded the man for laying down the law in defense of his daughter.
In the case of OP and their threats to cancel their child's birthday party, the reaction was the exact opposite, with countless Redditors slamming the original poster for toying with their daughter's emotions.
"[You're the a**hole]," Redditor u/GonzoNinja629 wrote in the post's top comment, which has received more than 15,000 votes. "With behavior like this it's hard to tell who the child is."
"Starting mind games with your kid at 10/11 years old and asking Reddit if that makes you an [a**hole]," Redditor u/jokenaround added, receiving more than 4,000 votes. "Maybe in the future, rather than mind games, try parenting with communication."
Redditor u/Heavyflowin666, whose comment has received nearly 14,000 votes, offered a blunt response.
"Way to give your kid trust issues," they wrote.
"Either cancel the party or don't. But the petty mind games is too much," Redditor u/soph_lurk_2018 chimed in, receiving nearly 7,000 votes. "You're supposed to be the adult here."
Newsweek reached out to u/Aita4899 for comment.
About the writer
Taylor McCloud is a Newsweek staff writer based in California. His focus is reporting on trending and viral topics. Taylor ... Read more