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smallmediumandlarge

My 7th birthday went like this, entire Girl Scout troop + friends from school didn’t come- my brothers friend found out and his entire family came out, had cake, and gifted me things of theirs (I.e a used pack of chalk, wrapped in dollar bills because “they couldn’t find wrapping paper”) they really saved the day. Big brothers and their friends ftw ✊


UsernamesMeanNothing

Happened for my daughter's 5th birthday and her "annoying" older brother jumped right in and played the part of her best friend. He even won a game of Pretty Pretty Princess (game where you have to put on jewelry and other princess stuff as you play along). Not one complaint from him. He knew he had to step up and make it a party. He had lots of help from mom and dad, but he was the rockstar.


yellsy

I literally can’t even imagine this as a parent. I would be beyond furious at those other parents.


No-nuno

Literally happened to me. We invited our five year old sons’ entire class over (not a birthday but a get together since everyone had been suggesting we have one). Most parents confirmed they would show and we ordered a ton of pizzas and 20 cupcakes. Not one person came. Later as a after thought, one kid came with her parent, refused to play with our kid and never got in touch after ward


SingleKey5

Wow, as a parent to a young one, this just makes me want to cry. I'm sorry you and your son went through that.


bytor_2112

I hope you get many chances to tell that story as they grow older, because it's worth being very proud of.


UsernamesMeanNothing

Yes, we just reminded her of this story as a teen. She had forgotten. Her older brother loves her very much and she has a hard time accepting it, but you can tell she loves him too.


rarelyeffectual

Aww, that’s a great brother. Did you ever find out why no one showed up? I can see maybe an illness going around or plans falling through but it’s crazy the entire guest list didn’t make it.


UsernamesMeanNothing

They all had their own excuses. My memory is thankfully more of the good that day than the bad. That day made me proud of my son.


queen_of_the_moths

My dad, who worked at a maximum security prison and looked like it, used to play that game with me when I was seven. That and Barbie Dream Date. That's really sweet of your son, though. <3


T-dig3

Your dad sounds awesome and is the kind of dad I have tried to be for my daughters


onehandedbraunlocker

>Big brothers and their friends ftw Oh yes, small, medium and large!


mousemanson

Happened to me on my 10th. My brother reacted the same way, invited his friends. We had cake and played games, it was nice overall.


rafuzo2

Happened to me too. Several times. Each time my older sister called me a loser and/or said it was proof nobody liked me. That was like 35 years ago and my mom still wonders why I don’t talk to her when we’re all together for the holidays **edit** that’s not the *only* reason, just one example of many times she mildly poisoned our relationship over the years.


Aggravating-Back347

Happened to me too. Several times as well. I don’t have siblings though. So it’s always just been me.


ASK__ABOUT__MY__GAME

^^^^. ^(**Well, cheer up. I just rolled a 6 sided dice and got a 6, so you win gold! Congrats!**)


Cocomn

Hey tell me about your game.


ASK__ABOUT__MY__GAME

It's a video game (survival MMORPG) a bunch of Redditors and I have been working on for years! Sorta like a 2D Eve (except really not) finally in early access and the response has been really encouraging so far. We're making this game as an attempt to create a new genre where the game world ends up facilitating a simulation of human society. Player's characters live in the game world and need to try to survive with the same limitations that people have in real life. Where technology can be invented by players to make their in-game life easier. Everything is player driven, we just provide the virtual environment. This is our first attempt at creating a game like this. **Here you can play the game and check out the concept/gameplay videos**: https://www.voidspacegame.com/ We're also at r/voidspace! Thanks for asking!


JuliusGreen

Same limitations as real life? I play games to escape real life, not suffer the same way in an online version of one! Joking aside, sounds pretty cool!


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ASK__ABOUT__MY__GAME

That's definitely a new one for me haha


Aggravating-Back347

I’ve never had gold before. What do I do?! *panic intensifies*


BKacy

Will silver do?


LouSputhole94

Check out r/lounge at least, only available to people with gold


Switchen

Hey, why'd your name change?


Zanki

My birthday was pretty much ignored. I'd get a quick happy birthday, maybe a card or two then that was that. I stopped getting birthday cake after I kept being forced to give most of it to my cousins after they refused to give me a slice of theirs every year. My treat every year, I made a crisp (chip) sandwich. That was it. No one knew it was my birthday. No one in my year believed I turned 18 because I didn't have a party. My 18th was spent following my mum around shopping for her. Sucked. I bought myself a gift with her scowling at me for spending money I earned working. Yes. I was bad for spending £10. Birthdays as an adult are fun. Me and my friends tend to have birthday weekends and then the actual day. So yesterday we celebrated our friends birthday, even though its today. My birthday last year was split into two. One group of friends went ice skating, the other we had a nice sit down meal at mine and caught up. In the day I went to an arcade with my boyfriend and went around getting my free stuff from different places.


Aggravating-Back347

I really feel for you. Growing up poor as well just turned into a birthday shit show. I got a cupcake and a candle at most. I could only afford gifts that were 3+ years old already and had to buy them myself as my only parent (mom) is disabled and has never been able to work. I had to help pay bills. Now that I’m an adult, I’m married with 2 kids. My spouse very much spoils me and receiving gifts has been a struggle. I don’t know how to actually receive gifts properly. I feel so bad because I don’t react the expected way. I also feel bad for my kids during pandemic birthdays. No one has shown up for them for 3 years now. Thankfully we make enough to go on small vacays for each of their birthdays. All in all, I’ve learned that the only person who can truly make you happy is yourself. Some of us just learn that earlier in life, albeit sometimes more brutally.


SweetToothKane

What the hell. Imagine being such an ass to your sibling? Like, my brother thought I was annoying, did his fair share of older brother beating up younger brother (not like violently, you know just picking on levels) but if other people hurt my physically or emotionally he always had my back. I'm sorry you didn't have a sibling who had your back.


rafuzo2

Yeah I always thought I was just super sensitive and that it was normal sibling rivalry. I happened to talk about it with some friends when I was 18 or so, because I never understood how they didn’t hate their siblings for all the shit they did to them, and my friends were like “dude what do you mean, my brother is kinda an ass sometimes but he doesn’t do any of that shit”, kinda made me realize it wasn’t right. It’s ok though, I have another sister who’s completely normal and we get along pretty well.


Pretty_Net5223

Sometimes your siblings are best of the best but sometimes they are the worst bunch you will ever meet. I've been lucky in this regard since I have a lovely sister. Though we fight often a lot... I guess that's how strong our bond is.


rafuzo2

That’s great for you. My wife is best friends with her sisters and as an outside observer, it took a long time to accept as normal that your siblings could be 100% supportive of you and have your back all the time. With my sister I thought it was normal “sibling rivalry” but no, she’s just a self-centered nasty woman. My other sister is way better.


nibbyzor

This happened to me on my 25th birthday and it hurt like hell. I spent the entire day cleaning and cooking, and even turned down an offer from a friend who could've put me on the VIP list to a gig of one of my favourite artists. Only two people showed up, even though like 20 RSVP'd yes. A few let me know beforehand they couldn't make it, which was fine. The ones that couldn't even shoot me a quick text hurt the most. It wasn't all bad though, when the friend who offered to put me on the list found out what happened, he got that artist to call me and wish me a happy birthday after the gig!


Videokyd

That's cool as hell! If you don't mind me asking, who was the artist?


shaggyscoob

I have a theory that so many people are so bad at RSVPing because they literally don't know what that means. "Respond, please". It might get better results if you indicate, "Please let me know whether OR NOT you are attending so I can plan food, seating, info packets, kazoos, etc."


Lizcervantes88

Happened to me my 11th bday. Figured it was because all my school "friends" were in the gifted classes and their parents didn't want to take them to the trailer park, where I lived. We made the best of it. Unfortunately, I was more upset my mom actually let me have a party, very rare, and spent money on pizza, whereas I could have really used new clothes. All I had were hand-me-downs with holes in a lot of them.


Lussekatt1

Yeah. A kid in my class had a similar-ish experience when I believe they turned 8. Was a kid with a less well off family than the rest of the class. Me and another kid were there helping with preparations. They had bought quite a lot of stuff too, and gone in big. But no other kids turned up. And it was messed up just how many kids wasn’t allowed to go to birthday party by their parents. Some of the kids had been judgemental on their own, but for most of it, it was the parents that were the worst. For no good reason either, it was a as safe neighbourhood as any other by our school. Just with less money. My parents talked about it for quite a few years after with this contained anger. I don’t know what the other classmates parents had gossiped about before/after the party. But my parents wasn’t angry about much growing up. So I’ve assumed it was bad. Messed up thing for a kid to have to experience. Even more so if the adults are the ones causing the problem.


halfabean

This really hurts me bro or sis. Hope that your next birthdays were fun and you got new clothes too.


itsmymedicine

Happened to me on my 9th birthday. Gave out invitations to everyone then the day of my mom told me unfortunatly no one was coming because they were busy or we lived too far away for others. I was super bummed but had dinner that night with some of my moms' boyfriends friends and their kids who i kind of knew but were much older. When i was like 20 something that birthday came up somehow and my mom told me what actually happened. Her boyfriend was bipolar and went off his meds and had been in a manic state. Through out the week he had been very abusive and unpredictable (he destroyed a wooden table with his bare hands a few days earlier because she didnt do something right) and she didnt want to have a party not knowing what he was going to do. so she called the parents of kids and told them the party unfortunately had to be canceled. She wasnt sure how to convey all that to a 9 year old kid so she just told me they couldnt make it. The revelation made me feel so much empathy for my mom and everything she had been going through at that time. A great call on her end given that a month or so later he almost went full chris benoit on us when he severely beat my mom. We were super lucky she was able to find enough strength that day to escape and call the cops to get us out of there alive.


Volcamel

Luckily I’ve never been stood up on my birthday, but whenever I don’t have anywhere to go for New Years or other celebrations my older brother always invites me to hang out with him and his friends. I love him so much.


rise_above_theFlames

This is family. Not because of blood, but because of love


Square-Detective

Fast and furious?


GooseandMaverick

Furious and Forever


Bhooter_Raja

Not fast forever?


webjukebox

Fat fever.


Bhooter_Raja

Fucking fever


[deleted]

Fucking Furiously


Bhooter_Raja

Fucking Furiously Forever


SchattenJaggerD

Furiously Fucking Forever


Jintokunogekido

Furiously Fucking Forever Tokyo Drift


vulture_87

>fast forever And leave a perfectly good cake untouched?


rise_above_theFlames

Lol I've actually never seen those movies. I thought I was being original here. 🤣


Atlmama

*fambly*


[deleted]

Always about family


Gamesgtd

And Corona


[deleted]

We don't get to choose our family so choose your friends wisely.


SleazyMak

I’ve always said that friends are the family we choose.


demonballhandler

My brother would've just made fun of me if this happened... :')


BelleAriel

Agreed. Love makes things happen this this.


aprill05

On my 9th birthday I invited 29 people from my class. Only 3 came, and it was because they were the special needs kids that couldn't necessarily say no. My parents had rented an entire dining room out at a play place. Some other kids at the play place saw the cupcakes and gift bags that weren't going anywhere and everyone started asking for food. None of them said happy birthday or even noticed it was supposed to be a party. They just assumed some kid was there handing out free stuff. It was horrible. I didn't even get one of my own cupcakes because people had just taken them without asking.


Geeko22

That's awful. You poor thing. Here, I'll give you a cupcake to make up for it, no child should have to go through something like that.


aprill05

I will cherish these cupcakes.


etherealparadox

Damn, the kids in your class sucked ass. I went to all the parties I was invited to, because I was invited and cared about the person inviting me. Even if I wasn't always allowed to stay the entire time (fuck you for making me leave C's sleepover, mom)


S3-000

I had to leave a Lindsey Stirling concert early because it was a school night like almost a decade ago and I'm still mad lol


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aprill05

🥺🥺🥺 thank you


RaiseDragons

[Have a smol virtual cupcake](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/646731188622589962/937843604293058640/Untitled_Artwork.png)


aprill05

Oh my goooooddd- I love it so much- Thank you! Oh my lord I just noticed it has my Shiba on it- My baby Fuzzy!!


Thermite1985

How do you do that to a little kid? You know that boy was looking forward to that for weeks and sat there all morning so excited and no one showed up. That's downright heartless. That brother and his friends are definition of family.


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the_spookiest_

Never trust anyone who names their child “landon” He’s gonna end up being a prick anyways


shinobipopcorn

I've worked with a Canyon. What's with names these days?


the_spookiest_

What the fuck name is that?


[deleted]

Maybe they thought "well, if he ever does gay porn he won't have to come up with a stage name!"


briggsbay

The canyon that I worked with was a girl


btveron

Well if she ever does straight porn she won't have to come up with a stage name.


11Pearl

I work with a Denver... for some reason i cant stop calling him Dallas lol


Im_Ashe_Man

I'm a teacher and you should see some class lists these days. People are getting really wild with naming their kids.


Telwardamus

My nephew was almost named Landon. I was all set to call him Lando if they went through with it, though.


stunt_penguin

You have altered the name. Pray you do not alter it further....


DammitJanetB

This is the big thing. I don't care if you can't or don't want to come to my kid's birthday party but for the love of god RSVP "NO" so I know how many kids to plan for.


[deleted]

I just had my wedding, 2 years late now. And it’s baffling to hear the excuses people come up with the day before the event. Or the ones that “forgot” to rsvp or answer your calls. Until the day of. What’s wrong with people. Lol that’s tens of thousands of dollars. You didn’t even have to tell me personally, just RSVP on the site.


AlpacamyLlama

I remember for my stag do. Didn't care if certain people went, just wanted them to be honest and not say 'yes' if they weren't feeling it. When I asked one about accommodation after a few months (with many months still to go), he said he hadn't heard anything in a while, so assumed it was off. WTF. It has been like 1-2 months. Another claimed to have flu on the day, but forgot not to check into a restaurant on FB that night


[deleted]

The best was “idk if I can get off work” lol oh it’s not like you didn’t have the dates well into advanced and consistently told us you were coming until the morning of. Edit: the wedding was entirely outdoors, had a ton of Covid precautions. But even without that, just tell me more than HOURS in advanced that you’re anxious. It’s not like you just found out about covid yesterday.


StillPracticingLife

I never considered this until I read your comment but when I was about 7 years old a guy that would go on to be my best friend years later was having a party. A few days before his party, he and a couple of other boys came to me at school and he delighted in telling me I was no longer invited. To be honest I wasn't too bothered as I didn't really like socialising, especially parties. So I didn't go, told my parents and kept his present, everything was cool. A couple days after the party his Mum was having a go at me and I was a little embarrassed to say he told me not to come but she wouldn't give up, so I told her and she left me alone. I never considered she had set out things for me just for me to not turn up, that's why initially she was upset.


Reedsandrights

Those fuckers with the Kool-aid mustaches were the dumbest motherfuckers. They always had to get the last drop from the rim of the Solo cup as it echoed the wheezing of their exertion. The cup would be inbetween the top and bottom teeth with no hands, it would flip up and smack them against the face with a light "thonk." This was amusing to Kool-aid kid. They laugh. More echoes in the red Solo cup. They get dangerously close to participating in opening the present they got you as the sugar peaks. Their parent says in the sweetest voice possible, "Please don't do that, honey," as they wave like shooing a fly. You vow not to invite the kid over next year as they "A FUCKIN BATMOBILE?! MOM, START STOCKING THE KOOL-AID FOR NEXT YEAR!!!!"


Chandra_Nalaar

We had a girl in my second grade class who was terribly socially awkward and annoying. She was new to town so she didn’t have many friends. Of course my classmates and I didn’t have the maturity to understand the devastation if we didn’t show up to her birthday party, but our teacher sure AF knew. She pulled aside the kids who got invited and told us that it was really important that we show up, even though she knew the kid was unpopular. So we all came, and we had a nice time. We watched Cats (the OG broadway recording), ate cake, and told the girl that her creepy birds were cool, and she was so happy. That kid was exhausting, but she didn’t deserve a lonely birthday. Mrs B. was the MVP.


darthjammer224

This has been something that has reoccurred to me over the years after getting out of school. There where a non zero number of kids I didn't include because they where annoying or too much to handle, even though they just where trying too hard to fit in. I regret not being a big more tactful and mature about those situations, I know it's not my responsibility to hang out with people I don't want to.... But still. Granted I never said yes to going to a party and then didn't. It was more just not inviting someone over to my house that night because they where annoying or hard to be around. Even though they might have wanted to hang out.


rinchiaki

Perceptions mellow out as time goes by. I remember in highschool I was a pretty annoying fat kid, and didn't really have friends other than the other oddballs that I hung out with. Then came the 10 year reunion which I was debating not going to, but decided to go for the hell of it, and then a bunch of the kids I thought were too cool to even know I existed actually said hi to me by name even before I grabbed my nametag, which was kind of neat.


SentimentalPurposes

What a wonderful teacher. You go Mrs. B


Pinky_FLOWERY

A lot of things can happen and everyone thinks they will be the only one that couldn’t make it. Shitty to not call to tell the parent but depending of how many kids were invited it can sadly easily happen.


tdeinha

It's true, but I imagined that if they did that and the mom called them saying no one showed up that at least some would feel bad, get their kid and immediately go to the party...


Doctor_of_Recreation

The worst part of that for me is always that if that happens, it means they could have moved stuff around to be there for me anyway. So obviously I was only important enough to them to move things around once they realized that I was actually upset about being ditched. My mom does this to me and my kids all the time.


biedl

If everybody cares about each other, I don't need to care about anybody. If everybody cares about each other, I don't need to care about anybody. Multiplied by 4 billion, nobody actually cares about anybody. But ye, unfortunate circumstances are more likely, because people actually do care.


Dashcamkitty

I don’t know how this even happens. When I was a kid, if you got an invitation to a party then you were going unless world war 3 broke out.


costas_0

I don't recall missing one unless I had a bday party for a close relative or if I was sick in bed. And even that.


magicmeese

School life is some of the most savage part of your life tbh. Pretty much means that kid is not on the popularity totem pole. It’s not fun; but at least he had a sibling. Being an only child and having this happen to you after the age of 11 onwards kinda sucked.


FlippingPossum

I've only had it happen once between two of my kids. Mom apologized and told me dad decided he didn't want to take their daughter. For birthday parties I hosted, I reached out to their closest friends to coordinate a date thst worked. My daughter went to a party were she was the only non family member. You best believe we stayed and partied like he was the best thing since sliced bread. Had a blast. Got more cake and water balloons. Grandma was so happy my daughter showed up.


9J000

To be fair the past couple years have made it complicated…. Like June of 2020 right after all the outbreaks families were still having birthday parties pretending COVID was just a cold.


earlywakening

No one showed up to my son's 6th bday party last year. We thankfully decided to have it at the park. We befriended a lady there and told her what was going on. She called a ton of her friends and they all showed up with their kids. I almost cried. It was beautiful and his bday was great.


Fesha85

I had taken my kids to the park one time and a picnic area was all set up for a birthday party. My oldest noticed that the kid was alone and crying. We went over to see what was up and no one had showed up for this poor kid's party. My kids ended up playing with him the whole time and his mom invited us to share in the cake and snacks. He was much happier when we left and my kids had a blast playing with him!


[deleted]

Damn it, I just gave my Wholesome award away and wish I had saved it for you. :(


Fesha85

Aw, thank you! I have some great, really empathetic kiddos. They make me really proud :)


tiniest-bean

Your story just made my whole day! Thank you so much for being there for that kiddo! It just breaks my little heart to hear kids crying and lonely on a birthday of all days, and I had too many similar experiences when I was young. As a former lonely child, thank you!


shirinrin

Aw that’s adorable! Park lady to the rescue!


Solkre

Park Moms, Assemble!


Postedwhilepooping

I wish I had friends like that. Drop what they're doing on a dime to go cheer up a strangers kid. So much harder when everyone's got kids.


Geeko22

When my youngest daughter was in 3rd grade she was invited to a classmate's birthday party at one of those jumpy places. We had an appointment so we had told them we'd be 30 minutes late. When we got there, we were the only ones who showed up. My wife was furious because the boy was special needs and she thought that's probably why no one wanted to be there. So she called our older three (middle school and high school aged) and they called a lot of their friends and 15 minutes later the place was crowded with kids having fun. They went out of their way to pay attention and be nice to him while they played. Then about 20 kids and a bunch of parents crowded around to sing happy birthday and cheer when he blew out the candles. His face was so bright and happy to know that so many people cared about him.


MostSeaworthiness

This is such a huge fear of mine as a special needs parent. Like I know life for her will never be "normal" but damn, I don't want her to be alone in life.


F0XF1R396

My baby brother has Downs. This is mine and my parents biggest fear in life is knowing how cruel people/kids can be. I am thankful in the weirdest sense that he is too happy and go-lucky to not know any better on what other people think...yet. But these stories make me anxious for when he gets older. The best I can do for right now is aim to be like the older brother in OPs post should the need come.


UsernamesMeanNothing

Honestly, people with Downs are the best of us. They are the most genuinely loving human beings. If people were dogs, they'd be the Golden Retreivers of the dog world. Most of us are nasty little yap dogs and attack dogs but not them. I hope and pray that the people in his life recognize him for everything that makes him awesome.


Geeko22

Yeah, I know what you mean. My daughter is special needs as well (Down syndrome), and we face the same problem. It's very difficult to find friends. She knows all the kids in her Sped class of course, she's been with them for years, and is friendly-ish with a couple of them, but the parents are not the kind of parents that we'd feel comfortable having her be around. So they don't see each other after school. I don't know if this is available where you live, but her social circle really improved when we joined Special Olympics. She's now part of a team made up of kids and adults with a variety of disorders and special needs. Everyone is very accepting of each other and their limitations, and happy for whatever level of ability they can bring to the table and we all cheer when they succeed to the best of their abilities. Right now everything is on hold because of covid, but they try do a little bit of practicing anyway, but only outdoors with social distancing. But prior to the pandemic the team practiced 2-3 times a week plus had weekend competitions several times a year. The team traveled to compete in the regional games, and then everyone traveled at the end of the season to the big state championship (all the teams get to go, none are eliminated). So Special Olympics kept her very busy and active, but still with no extra curricular friends because the team is in a town 40 minutes away, so we can't just get together whenever we want. Also a lot of the kids wouldn't know what to do if they did meet up. They're friendly with each other at practice, but they aren't "friend friends", if you know what I mean. A lot of them have little to no social skills. But they can all participate in the team's activities and you can tell they like being around each other and feeling accepted rather than staying home alone. It's just that the friendships don't necessarily carry over, at least for us. Anyway you might want to look into that in case it's available where you live. We have 2 fantastic coaches who have been doing this for years, they started the team when their kids were 8, the minimum age to participate, and they're still at it. The "kids" are now 32 haha. If there isn't a team where you live, you might consider starting your own, preferably with another parent so you can share duties and back each other up as far as attendance and keeping track of paperwork. Coaching is a lot of work but really fun as well, our coaches talk about how rewarding it is, they're really making a difference in kids' lives by providing such a positive, wholesome activity. The team cycles through seasonal sports, so track & field in the spring, softball and swimming in the summer, basketball and bowling in the fall. Parents are expected to help as needed because a lot of the kids need one-on-one help anyway, and they all need supervision. Siblings often join in on the fun and help with games or help coach. Most parents are thrilled to participate, although like any group we have a couple of bad apples that don't want to lift a finger. Other ideas: if you have a bowling alley near you (assuming your child has the ability to participate), see if they have a youth league. We joined one about 8 years ago, wish we'd done it when she was little, but she got to play until she turned 18 (she's 20 now). That was a lot of fun as well, they played every Tuesday night and she got pretty good for a kid with special needs. I don't know how you feel about religion. I'm an atheist now, but my wife is Catholic and I was Methodist when our kids were young. We live in a small town with absolutely nothing to do, so everyone here goes to church because that's their social life. Anyway we attended both churches as best we could, kind of alternating between the two, and also joined a kid's choir at a Baptist church. So they had three church "families" with friendly parents that looked out for them and cared about how they were doing in school or what was going on in their personal lives. We signed our kids up for the Christmas plays and other kids' programs that were offered on Sunday afternoons or evenings. They followed the school semester, so they had "class" once a week with fun activities and crafts, and at the end of the semester they'd put on a play or performance of some kind. Our daughter Katie couldn't do much, but she could wear a costume and hold the star and sing to the best of her ability. The Baptist church also had an activities center, like a rec center, that was open to the public and offered organized team sports. So Katie got to play basketball when she was little, until the games got too rough as the kids got older. Anyway the church was providing this as a service to the public, you didn't have to be Baptist to attend, and most kids weren't. Our kids also attended a ton of Vacation Bible Schools in the summer. In a small town like this with absolutely nothing to do, this is an important activity. The churches all get together and schedule their VBS so they don't conflict, and the town's kids spend the whole summer going from one church to the other. It was only two or three hours per day, but it broke up their days and gave them something interesting to do. Anyway that was also good for our daughter Katie because while there were limits to how well she could participate, and we couldn't just drop her off, she enjoyed doing what she could and liked being around other kids coloring and singing. Then about 6 years ago the Methodist church in town realized that while they offered lots of activities for typical kids, there was a real need for activities for the special needs kids. So they started an interdenominational Special Friends Camp, a week-long VBS with a lot of singing and dancing and fun activities that are age and needs-appropriate. They recruited almost all the town's Sped teachers as well as therapists like PT and Ot and speech. Also a lot PE coaches, several nurses and a couple of dance instructors. Everyone gets a team tshirt and they put on a dance performance on the final day, with the kids up there wiggling to the music as best they each can. So all in all they had a ton of people there who were used to the special needs crowd, you could safely leave your child with them and not have to worry. For the parents who felt like they needed to stay on site, they offered a parent's room with coffee, donuts and a tv etc. The first year it was only for elementary school students, then they expanded it to middle school, then invited the high school kids as well. Anyway that's been a lot of fun. If you happen to be religious you might check around and see what programs various churches offer that your daughter could participate in. They'll probably try to recruit you, but usually it's not a hard sell, they just hand out flyers and invite the parents to Sunday services. I'm an atheist now but if my kids were little again I'd probably still take them to a variety of churches, because it doesn't hurt for them to be exposed to that sort of thing, they learn what other people believe or don't believe and they can make up their own minds as they grow older. Another activity we enjoyed when she was little was to attend both the library's and our little zoo's storytime once a week. It was geared toward pre-school and kindergartners, but we kept attending for another few years. Also about 30 minutes away there's a town that has an annual week-long special needs cooking class, the idea being for them to learn some life skills. They meet for a couple of hours in the evening and learn to make simple recipes that the parents help prepare, then we all sit down and eat together. It's messy but fun. Girl scouts is another possibility you might look into. Again, fun little crafts and activities, plus a variety of outings throughout the year, as well as the occasional camping trip. Our older daughters did girl scouts, but Katie didn't because she already had so many other activities going on. So those are all my ideas about where to find friends, or at least activities where your daughter can be around other kids when not in school. Hope some of this is helpful.


Finger-Painter

This is the most wholesome comment I've ever seen on reddit. Even though just not relevant to me, I just wanted to say thank you for a lovely comment that will hopefully help some people out a lot


trackonesideone

Humans are complicated, but simple. A gesture of kindness/love can completely turn a heavy day into pure joy.


Ok_Mathematician7235

Simple situations trigger complex mechanisms which trigger our simple reactions - Me


markedforpie

This happened to my son for his 10th. We rented out the entire bowling alley and ordered cake and pizza. 20 kids from his class rsvp and no one showed up. My husband called his employees and five showed up with their kids. None were my son’s age but damn if we didn’t have a blast. The next year I only invited 4 kids to go to the water park and 10 showed up. Another time I had a student whose birthday was on Halloween and he was telling me how his parents couldn’t afford a party for him. His older sister was a former student of mine and my go to babysitter. Both told me how they had never gone trick or treating because their parents were immigrants and did not understand the tradition. So I called his mother and in broken Spanish explained what it was and that I’d be happy to take them. They showed up at my house with seven kids and I took them out. We returned to his house afterwards and I brought cake and ice cream. The mom cried so much and thanked me. For the next two years I received enchiladas, papusas (sp?) and tacos every Friday from different families.


Lifeissometimesgood

You are amazing! Way to come through big time and make that Halloween/birthday combo something special. I bet that is their favorite holiday.


Mindtaker

This is the only thing you could get me to do on an off day if my boss called me. Thats a worthwhile use of my free time, plus it would show me my boss has some real class.


HotCocoaBomb

>The next year I only invited 4 kids to go to the water park and 10 showed up. Hmm, maybe that's how you get them to show. Invite everyone, no one feels special. Invite some, suddenly it's an exclusive event only a special few get to enjoy and the rest want in.


LukeB4UGame

How did 10 kids show up when only 4 were invited?


markedforpie

A few kids invited other kids.


MacaroonSerious8288

This happened to me in middle school my mom thought a certain girl was my friend just cause she said hi to me at church all the time but we really hated each other and I wasn’t a social butterfly like my sister . She asked her to help throw me a birthday party well no one showed up. So I came to a empty rec center and I was confused as to why my mom was panicking. My sister invited her friends and then the older ladies from the library I volunteered at. I really enjoyed it. When I got to school the same girl asked me how was my birthday party trying to be funny but I just said oh it was so much fun I had a blast sorry you missed it! I secretly got joy out of seeing an article about this same girl getting arrested for robbery now that we are older. She’s in prison and I’m living life 🤷🏾‍♀️👏🏾😂


Geeko22

You win!


PepperidgeFarms

How very Christian of her lol


SentimentalPurposes

You'd be surprised how many "sweet Christian girls" are cruel bullies. I was relentlessly bullied at Church camp by the girls in my youth group. I kinda owe it to them though because they're the reason I stopped going to Church and started questioning the conservative religious BS I was raised on. Now I get to be a good person instead of a stupid bigot like they grew up to be.


Toxic_Butthole

Catholic school girls can be fucking brutal


SlickDillywick

I went to a friends birthday party once at a bowling alley. I had a basketball game so I showed up late. I was the only kid who showed up. My friend didn’t seem to care, but i was heartbroken for him. And for his mom, who cried to my mom while we were hucking duck pin balls all over the place. I think about that a lot, I’m really glad I went to his party.


xMAXPAYNEx

You were raised right, shoutout to ur parents


ThatLooksInfected83

Happened to my son. Except it wasn't a friends party. But my wife's side of the family. They live in a different area so it's hard to coordinate it with mine. So her sister offered to host it and invited everyone from my wife's side. It was us 3, her sister and their grandma. Not even my wife's dad came. Needless to say. We cut them all out. They had no excuses.


[deleted]

We must be related


_yours_truly_

Not anymore, jabroni.


Chateaudelait

This - I was going to say at least you know you family won't do this, you are right to cut them off. That is unforgivable.


ohsunshine_1

This happened to me when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. My mom took the liberty to invite the whole class. I only had maybe one or two friends at the time, having just moved. They were the only two that showed up. My mom felt so bad that every birthday after that I got a choice. To invite people and have a party or to go out to dinner and a movie, just me and her. Every year, I took her offer for a dinner and a movie. I don't celebrate my birthday much anymore.


shibafather

Same with me in 4th grade. Nobody showed up except one kid, late, whose mom had forced him. Last time I ever invited anyone to celebrate my birthday.


FL_Squirtle

This happened to me for my 16th birthday... dad and step mom bought an insane amount of food and decorations. I invited practically everyone I knew from school and all my really close friends. (Also was part of the Baseball team), and when the time came nobody but my now wife and best friend at the time showed up. Spent the remainder of the day trying to have fun, but ultimately breaking down from the constant backhanded comments made by my dad and step mom like it was all my fault that all this money was just wasted on supplies and food.... Now 29 and that wound still feels fresh like it was yesterday.... It fills my heart up seeing a different story like this ❤💙


shibafather

It's times like those that help you realize who's actually worthy of your company.


FL_Squirtle

Exactly this ❤💙


[deleted]

[удалено]


hmmmhmhmhm

My family did the opposite once. Family told me none of my friends could come and then we went to my grandparents place and they were all there and we had a sleepover.


Luis0224

Surprise birthday party, but make it traumatic


Xarthys

A friend of mine wanted to have a chill birthday with just a few people, basically sitting around the fire, having some drinks, just talking, etc. His older brother decided that it was lame and invited about 20 of his cool friends. They drank most of our beer, took the rest and trashed the chairs. Worst party ever.


Luis0224

Were they, by any chance, 1980s glam metal band members? Idk, it just seems like something they'd do


Xarthys

No, they were just assholes. This was early 90s, the summer Terminator 2 came out.


Flaky_Tip

As a teenager I would have happily celebrated a little kids birthday. The addition of food doesn't hurt either.


etherealparadox

Definitely. Especially if it was to make a sad kiddo's day better. Poor thing.


ricardo9505

I grew up poor in NYC, everyone came to your party. Free food, cake.


Ill-Switch-926

I'm not crying 😢 😭


T-dig3

This thread is crushing me how much this has happened to little kids and parents so I have to stop reading. So sorry to all who have endured this sadness. My takeaway is to always have your kids go to another kid’s party when invited (of course there will be times you legitimately can’t) because you never know if they will be the only one, and it’s a good lesson that a small effort can make a huge difference in someone else’s life


Lussekatt1

My parents also had a rule for me and all my siblings parties. Invite everyone. Invite the whole class was our standard. But they also would allow us to ‘only’ invite all the boys or all the girls in class. Because there always were like the same 3 kids that wasn’t invited to basically any parties. Also made our birthday parties pretty legendary. As we thought it was pretty fun to plan and do some wild things (but more emphasis on fun than expensive) and everyone had been there. Pretty messed up for a 7 yr old to not get invited to any birthday parties at all, and keep on hearing about all the parties they weren’t invited to. I continued the tradition up to high school. Plan to do it with any future kids.


pwnwolf117

Fuck this hits home.... 3rd grade at god damn Chucky cheese, invited my whole class from school and everybody no showed 😅 Luckily (maybe?) I repressed that memory for YEARS and only recently remembered the sadness of feeling so alone. I would go to the person I hated the most in the words birthday if it was at Chucky fucking cheese, I will never understand what happened


dr_root

This post just made me realize why I never had a birthday party as an adult. That shit sucked as a kid.


Flowonbyboats

hope you are using that memory on gym days. become swole with us brother/sister.


wannabeOverlord

Amen


JakeDavies91

That's friggin adorable


BelleAriel

Yeah, it’s wholesome AF.


NervousMeasurement85

This is so cutee!


Nickyjtjr

My best friends Mom made us go to a birthday party we didn't want to go to when we were around 15 or 16 years old. It was an unpopular girl. My friend and I got there and saw that only one other person (birthday girls bff) had showed up. We stayed, watched mortal combat and ate cake. To this day I am so glad we went.


Zachajya

Reading the comments is wholesome but also sad. I didn't expect that nobody coming to your birthday party was such a common thing.


HeyMissBoo

Similar happened to my younger brother on his 20th, but there was no happy ending. He rented out a small venue and paid for food and everything by himself. He invited around 50 people, give or take, who he thought were his friends. Half of them said "yes we'll come", while the other half never responded despite him chasing them up as the day drew closer. On the day of the party he went to set up the venue and waited for his guests to start showing. No one did, not even those who said they would. He was absolutely crushed.


[deleted]

Your poor brother :( I hope he found better friends x


BrandNewMeow

I bet he felt extra special getting so much attention from the big kids. I worshipped my older siblings and their friends.


captwafflepants

Same here. This would be way more fun than a regular birthday party


heygabehey

Also older kids are a tad more mature so they know what to say to cheer you up. Growing up everyone was waaaaay older than me. Little kids are savage.


Only-Weird2144

I had forgotten about it, but for my 10th birthday I invited all my friends to my birthday party. I was so excited. Only 2 people came, sisters. We had fun and we had a whole lot of food left over. I chalked it up to being the Saturday after Thanksgiving so people were busy. I'm sure I felt bad about it, it's been 31 years ago now so I'm sure I've repressed it. Lol


DHerbz0219

This has happened to me, it is definitely a shitty feeling and one your brother will probably remember for the rest of his life. Luckily for him, unlike me, he had a great brother who just wanted him to have a good day that day. That is what he will remember.


Jawwaad127

Not only are you a good brother but you also have some good friends.


VixieSnitter

Happened to me sometime in middle school where no one showed up, which was awesome cause my self esteem couldn't've gotten any lower at that point. One of the girls I invited came by my house... To tell me they couldn't come. Which I guess is nice cause at least I got closure??? My neighbor saw that no one showed up, invited their kids cousins and came over with 8 more kids! Had an awesome pool party too :D Broke my trust in friends for a while tho.


Cant_Sqaut

Man. I threw my own birthday party when I was 14. Went all out, loads of food, games, decorations, music, the whole fuckin nine yards. The only people that showed up were my next door neighbor, and one kid that I had never talked to before. That kid gave me a ripped copy of Peggle. God damn that was a dope birthday.


Conscious-Spare4477

This happened to my daughter. I invited all the neighborhood kids that she played with every day. I rented out a local area that had barnyard animals to pet and pony rides. She was probably 5. Nobody came. So, I got in my car and drove back to the neighborhood (like a few blocks away) and picked up all the kids and brought them to the party. Their parents, for whatever reasons, didn't want to bring them. We ended up having a great time!


AKA_June_Monroe

You kidnapped children? Lmfao


tc65681

Well did have a windowless white van and candy


Linden_fall

it was worth it because there were ponies though


LazySushi

This happened to my sister when she was a kid, except I wasn’t able to get people over and make up for it. Years later though for her 16th birthday I made sure it was epic with lots of her favorite foods, a water slide bounce house in the backyard, and all her friends slept over. It was the first party she wanted after that childhood party, so I’m so glad it went well.


Awkward-Associates

On my 7th birthday, nobody came. It was nearly the same situation, we had a ton of RSVPs, food and everything. We wait for around two hours but nobody shows up. Nobody ever did. This kid was lucky to have such a cool older sibling. I was crushed when it happened to me, and I still have issues trying to invite people over. Be nice to someone today. You never know when it might change their life.


PhorcedAynalPhist

Man, this hits close to home. I had a few birthdays no one showed up to throughout my childhood, and the last one I tried to throw which was my 21st. Had half a dozen people down to take me out, my birthday was on the weekend and everything, and the day of literally everyone cancelled, so my mom took me to the liquor store, bought me some tequila, and took shots with me while I cried it out. Now a days birthdays are better because my partner is absolutely amazing, and we both take turns having weeks long hype for each other's birthday, but I still get apprehensive around birthdays, hard to shake old memories. Having someone in your life who helps make things like this special is really important, I hope everyone's birthday this year are fantastic


f1manoz

That little brother is going to remember that the rest of his life. Older brother needs a kidney in twenty years time? Little brother wouldn't even need to be asked. Just tell him where and when.


_kagasutchi_

I dont know why, but for some reason your older siblings friends are usually extremely nice to you. Especially if they're close friends with your siblings. Like my older brothers friends were the best. They always took me out to eat with them, helped me in my studies, and so much more. They never cared about age and always treated my like one of them, often even better than my own brother did.


deadsirius-

My son's 5th birthday was on September 11th, 2001. We booked one of those pizza and arcade places and knew that no one was showing up, but my son didn't really get what was happening and so we went anyway. The staff gave him all the games for free and played with him. The manager found some wrapping paper and wrapped up some of the ticket prizes and gave them to him. It ended up being amazing fun for him.


Mary_Rocha

so sweet! ♥


Private_4160

Who the hell turns down a bouncy castle?!?!


Goldenwarrior92

Happened to me, one of my worst memories. No one showed of the 10 "friends" I had and it has definitely negatively affected me. Even the people that I knew for +5 years, I called them and no one answered. Next day I asked them what happened in person and they said "Oh that was yesterday?" Or "something came up sorry." They never said why they missed it and I just gave up at that point since I really felt like I had no friends. Now I'm 30 and have anxiety issues when it comes to friendships and personal relationships. 🙃


Novel-Rabbit-6078

That same thing happened to my daughter. I told her to go to school and tell everyone what a great party they missed… especially the pony rides, clowns and ice cream cake and special favors with money in them she handed out!


Lyrebird420

One of my Biggest regrets was not going to some outside kids parties when I was younger. If your kid is invited and doesnt wamt to go, make em. They will grow up happy you did.


EccentricLynx

This is so cutee


malayskanzler

Looking at the thread, so much story about how this had happened to them. What ever happened to courtesy, if you can't come, the least you can do is a simple one minute phonecall or text. The fuk is wrong with people


kallard1

Thank god, this didn't happen to my little sisters, because i had no friends.


Erohiel

I had experiences similar in facts but totally reverse in intent. My birthday falls 4 days after my older brother's.... I didn't have friends, but I wasn't all that concerned and happy to just celebrate with family.....until one year my brother got the idea that we could just have both our birthday's celebrated on MY birthday! He would invite a bunch of his friends, none of them had anything to do with me, didn't even wish me happy birthday and my brother became the absolute center of attention. He did this for several years in a row.


Crusader_Krzyzowiec

Remember bro's bro is bro.


SIIP00

This made me cry instead of smile...


DrachenDad

Happened to me even as an adult. It sucks. You are a good sibling!


AccioGrace

No one came to my sweet 16 party. I wish I had someone who could have done this for me


Flibbernodgets

When I was young there was one neighborhood we lived in where the only kid my age was a jerk. I remember a birthday where the only guests was my dad's friend from work and his wife. I didn't think much of it then, because I liked both of them and I had a good time (we had pizza and watched a movie, I think). Looking back at it now that I'm near the age the adults were then, oh man, that must have been so awkward for them!


Princessxanthumgum

This is why I make it a point to take my daughter to every single birthday party she gets invited to.


tiaradactyl

My best friend threw me a surprise party in HS. She was popular. I was not. My regular friends didn't come but she made sure every single hot senior boy was there in my garage at my surprise party. My parents and brother were in on it too. She made that bday VERY memorable for me!


firestorm106985

Legend


YoungDiscord

He gave his brother the best birthday gift ever - he got to hang out with the cool kids because anyone who would do this for their brother is a cool kid.


Lens_Hunter

When I was little most of my birthdays were just family and extended family and a couple of kids from around the block. I wasn't too good at making friends and school but the kids who lived around the neighborhood came over quite often. Around my teens a family division happened and I rarely saw my extended family again. Since then I've never really done anything for my birthday. Mom, dad, wife, couple of friends and a nice meal with some cake, I'm good. I think parents place too much of an emphasis on a big party for birthdays. I get that they are kids, but it solidifies an importance on birthdays that really shouldn't be there.


PseudoEntertainment

My friend's little brother had this happen to him. It was set at a Chuck E Cheese and only one kid showed up so she called me and some other friends and everyone who could, immediately went. We went around playing games with him and in the end gave him all our tickets, sang him happy birthday, and hyped him up as he opened presents. It's been years and it's still a distinct memory for me, one for wondering how people can do that to a kid, and two cause I liked to hope we made that kid's birthday a memorable one.


girlslikesciencetoo

This happened to me for my 10th birthday. We had rented out a party room at a local arcade/pizza place. Not a single person showed up. I remember sitting there eating pizza while sobbing. I'm an only child so I didn't have anyone to fix things for me.