For most people, a birthday party is a chance to celebrate one person's special day and make them the centre of attention as they get to unwrap presents and eat cake. But one mum has caused a scene at a child's party after she decided she wanted to give her own daughter a present too - even though it wasn't her day.
The mum explained she had ordered a Nintendo Switch for her nine-year-old daughter, Stephie, that she intended to give to her at her birthday party, but she was unable to pick it up until the following day. On the day she collected the present, Stephie was due to attend her friend Jolene's birthday party, and rather than wait until the party was over, the mum decided to hand Stephie her expensive present in front of all the other children.
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In a post on Reddit, the mum said: "My daughter Stephie just turned nine on Saturday. She's been asking for a Nintendo Switch for a while now, and I think she's gotten old enough and mature enough that I can trust her with a big present like that. So the plan was always to give Stephie the Switch at her birthday party which was the same day. However, that ended up falling through, as we ended up not being able to pick up the Switch until Sunday morning.
"Stephie was invited to her classmate Jolene's party on Sunday. I figured that since we were still in the party spirit, I would just give Stephie the Switch after cake at Jolene's party. Nothing more than that. Just the unwrapping and then the spotlight would be right back on Jolene.
"Besides, the girls are friends so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal. They're nine, they're old enough to understand this was an extenuating circumstance. Or so I thought."
The mum then claimed she was told she was "undermining" Jolene's parents by giving her daughter an expensive present when it wasn't even her party.
She added: "Everything went as I had planned and I thought it went well, but after the party was over I got a call from Jolene's mum essentially asking me what the hell I was thinking. That I was 'undermining' her because she couldn't afford something like a Switch for Jolene.
"Correct me if I'm wrong but I have not raised Stephie to even really care about things like how much a present costs. Also, Jolene didn't even care because she had numerous new things to play with, and Stephie shared her Switch with her so it seems to me like everyone made out well.
"Jolene's mum also called me petty and a show-off. My husband says he gets where I was coming from but maybe should have at least waited until after Jolene's presents were opened so she could have hers first. That's fair but I'm not sure if that quite makes me an a**hole to Jolene."
Commenters on the post disagreed with the mum's approach, as many told her she should have given her daughter the present after Jolene's birthday party ended.
One person said: "Why would you do this at another girl's birthday party? Why couldn't you do this at home with just your daughter? I can't imagine bringing a gift to someone else's party and making it about you and your daughter."
While another added: "Why wouldn't you give your kid her present at home rather than at another child's birthday party? That just seems bizarre and like you were looking for attention."
And a third wrote: "It's not nice or polite to open presents for you at someone else's birthday party. It reminds me of 'equal attention' presents which are lame. Why couldn't you have given your child their gift at home? It's not nice to take the spotlight off someone else on their special day."
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