ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / ECONOMY & WORK

Single Mother Wonders if She's Wrong to Refuse Individual Sweet 16 Parties for Triplets

The mother then writes, "I've tried explaining to them I can't afford it but they just told me to get an extra job."
PUBLISHED MAR 9, 2024
Cover Image Source: Birthday Party | Pexels | Silvia Trigo
Cover Image Source: Birthday Party | Pexels | Silvia Trigo

As the cost of living including the prices of food and rent go up without showing signs of slowing down, parents are struggling with providing beyond the basic needs for their children. In a post, uploaded on the subreddit AITA, the user Perfect_Phone9777, a single mother, talks about the drama that followed her refusal to throw her triplet's individual sweet 16 parties, and garnered more than 2,000 comments on the subreddit.

The woman mentioned that she is a single mom to three 15-year-old girls and said, "Usually for our birthdays I give them $150 each to take their friends for dinner and they go to different restaurants." However, this year, for their sweet 16, the girls wanted a "big quarry with a DJ, a venue, and a lot of invites."

Reddit | AITA | Perfect_Phone9777
Reddit | AITA | KittikatB

"A venue would be around $500 and with all the additional things like decorations DJ invites food it would be around $1200-1400 and that's the cheapest we can do. I can afford that once but they want three individual parties which would be over $4000."

She also thought of throwing three smaller parties but then refused to choose which one her girls would get to have their party on the actual birthday, as there was no way they could throw three different parties on a single day. 

She also says that she even thought of doing the smaller parties only for her daughter to tell her that they were not ok with having no DJs and drinks at their parties. "One of them is mad they can't have their sweet 16s. I told them the budget was 1200 and they could figure out how to spend it." 

Best tiktok gifts Pexels | By Porapak Apichodilok
Pexels | By Porapak Apichodilok

The mother then writes, "I've tried explaining to them I can't afford it but they just told me to get an extra job."

The OP then asked the community if she was wrong for refusing to spend so much on them and Reddit users mostly said how it makes no sense to spend $4000 on birthday parties if you have to think about it. 

A long comment from a user talked about how the kids "need to start learning both the value of money and consideration of people's time". The user also talks about how if somebody wants a "celebrity gala" for their birthday then they should be the "one to earn it."

Reddit | skullbug333 | AITA
Reddit | skullbug333 | AITA

Another user talked about how starting work at a young age can help a teenager going into the young adult phase of their life. "Both my sister and I started working when we were 12 (babysitting and I tutored a little girl). Our parents had split up and both were poor so even covering the basics was a struggle. Kids can learn how much things cost and the difference between necessity and extras." the comment read. 

Another user just couldn't take the fact that the kids were asking their mother to take up an extra job just to be able to afford their birthday parties. "With their attitude-especially telling you to get an extra job- they would be getting nothing more than a $25 Amazon gift card from me." she writes.

According to a Pew Research Center analysis, soaring inflation rates affect parents and at least one in four US parents say that they struggle to afford food or housing. It was also reported that many working parents feel financial stress for paying medical or health care for their children at some point. In an age like this, it's hardly a surprise that a parent may feel the stress of spending $16k on birthday parties!

For further updates, take a look at the post by Perfect_Phone9777 on Reddit.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
Fans complained that Carey maybe getting too old to take all the physicality during celebrations.
12 hours ago
Everyone has their own preferences but few people ever talk about this stuff on national TV.
14 hours ago
Drew Carey cares about his co-workers but he also doesn't hesitate to laugh at their expense.
17 hours ago
It's a moment of happiness when someone gets a deal on the show but it doesn't always end well.
18 hours ago
The models on "The Price is Right" are usually quite adept at their jobs but mistakes happen.
1 day ago
The models on the show are usually nice to contestants but this was a confrontation.
1 day ago
Steve Harvey really got agitated in this moment and he made no attempt to hide his feelings.
1 day ago
Lancaster did regain her balance but she caused collateral damage to save herself from embarrassment.
1 day ago
The contestant didn't lose her enthusiasm despite the fall which is admirable.
1 day ago
Steve Harvey is a patient host but some things just get on his nerves and he makes it clear.
2 days ago
The veteran host could not control his laughter after realizing the prank his colleagues had pulled.
2 days ago
Few people expected those words to come from the new host of the popular game show.
2 days ago
The Price is Right has always seen emotional contestants but this moment was just epic.
3 days ago
Mark Cuban has a good eye for potentially successful businesses but this one was just special.
3 days ago
The veteran host usually makes fans laugh with his words and not his actions but this was epic.
3 days ago
This contestant sure had a lot of nerve to say what he did about the mother of his child on TV.
3 days ago
The Reddit user wasn't expecting a former contestant to share insights on cracking the puzzles.
4 days ago
It didn't turn out to be something serious but it was still a traumatic experience for the customer.
4 days ago
The veteran host is usually a sympathetic individual but this one was a hilariously freakish moment.
5 days ago
Costco might be one of the biggest supermarket chains but that's not going to save it from criticism.
5 days ago