This can be a tricky dilemma to navigate with young siblings; it’s one child’s birthday and they deserve for the day to be centered around them.
Except, this comes at the very real risk of tears and tantrums from their brothers and sisters when they don’t have their own presents to unwrap and candles to blow out.
“That’s not our responsibility”
Some parents opt to get small gifts for the non-birthday siblings, while others see it as a teachable moment. But, what happens when other kids’ parents are asked to help shoulder this burden?
For one mom, that’s exactly the problem she was facing. TikTok user, Christy, posted a video after her six-year-old got an invitation from a classmate.
According to Christy, the birthday boy has a three-year-old brother and the invitation asked for people to bring gifts for both kids. It also suggested gift ideas for the sibling, including anything Spiderman-related.
“Whaaat!? I was floored,” the Alabama mother said.
“That’s not our responsibility – that’s yours, as a mother.”
The video has attracted thousands of views and comments, with the majority shocked at the request.
“Nope. His parents can provide gifts to the younger child, if they feel he needs them on his sibling’s birthday,” one wrote.
Another emphasized that this was an opportunity for the three-year-old son to learn some important life lessons: “You are definitely NOT wrong. Three-year-old needs to learn that not everything revolves around him – sometimes others have the spotlight.”
“Wait your turn”
Some of the commenters suggested that Christy skip the party altogether, and in a follow-up video, she shared that’s exactly what she did.
“We’re not going to go to the party,” she told followers. “I don’t want to be around people like that… if I was asked where the three-year-old’s gift was, it would not be nice.”
The mom did go to say that she felt sorry for her son’s classmate and had bought him a gift, but would drop it directly to the school so she didn’t have to cross paths with his parents.
“I’m not going to send the little brother a birthday gift. He’s just gonna have to learn. The mother needs to learn to teach her kid, ‘It’s not your day, wait your turn’.”
So, it looks like in attempting to protect the younger sibling’s feelings, the older one will have people skipping his birthday? That’s probably the saddest outcome of all.