Mum rages at friend for allowing son to have birthday cake - at birthday party

A mother is outraged that her son was allowed to eat cake at a birthday party, despite her strict dietary rules.

She said that her eight-year-old son recently attended his best friend’s party and had a slice of cake, despite telling his pal’s mother that her son is not allowed any sweets.

The mother now wants the other mother to “punish” her son for “pressuring” her son into eating cake.

Taking to Reddit’s Am I The A**hole forum, the women explained that she doesn’t allow her son to eat junk food, and he instead brings his own snacks to events that have lots of sugary foods. For his best friend’s birthday party, he brought along his own carrot sticks and ranch.

The mothers are also best friends, and the Redditor explained that she bakes a lot. For her son’s eighth birthday, she made a special chocolate cake.

She explained: “When it comes to my son, I don't let him have cake. This is personal preference for his health, not for any allergy reasons, and he is not diabetic or gluten free. My son knows he isn't allowed to have cake because of the additives.

“When he told his best friend this at the party, his friend apparently got upset and told him it was ‘good cake’, not bad like I say, because his mother made it, and it was his birthday cake.”

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The Redditor claims her son ate some of the cake, got a “sugar rush”, and was “cranky” for the rest of the day.

She told her friend that she “needs to have some kind of consequences for her son” as she claims the boy “peer pressured” her boy into eating the cake.

The other mother said because it wasn’t an issue of allergies or health, she won’t be punishing her son or talking to him about it on his birthday. She did however promise to watch more closely and ensure her husband does the same, and she said she would chat to her son about “respecting food habits”.

She continued: “I love my friend, but historically, her and her husband have always said 'yes' to their son and not given him any consequences for anything.

“Both of us were present at the party and did not see them sharing the cake (they were outside eating in the backyard with their fathers and some other parents supervising while we cleaned up) so it's not an issue of anyone going behind anyone's back, just teaching children boundaries and respect.

“I let my son stay for the rest of the party and be with his friend, so it's not like I ruined the day.”

She concluded the post by asking if she was in the wrong to be upset that her friend won’t punish her son for “pressuring” her son into eating cake.

As you can imagine, Reddit did not have much sympathy for this mother.

The top comment, with over 61,000 upvotes and 200 awards, reads: “God forbid your son experience a moment of joy and celebration.” The commenter added that sugar rushes are a myth, and said: “That your son was irritable for the rest of the day was likely because, having had fun at a friend's birthday party, you p***ed all over his enjoyment of the party with your ridiculous attitude and over-the-top indictment of the whole party.

“I can only imagine your son's embarrassment at you having the utter gall to demand consequences for a kid, on his birthday, who shared his cake with your son (who, by your own admission has NO health issues that would be affected by said cake). It wasn't the cake that made your son irritable, it was YOU.”

They added that although it’s acceptable to want to give your child a nutritious diet, she shouldn’t be a “fascist” about it, and warned it could lead to the boy developing an eating disorder.

Another wrote: “It was cake on a special occasion. Your son isn’t being fed cake daily. Also, you have issues with additives in cake, but find ranch to be acceptable?”

“The 8 year old kid at his own birthday party offered a piece of cake his mother made for him to your 8 year old kid, his friend, and you want him to have ‘some kind of consequences’. Get over yourself. This kid didn’t ‘pressure’ him.,” another said.

They added that the mum and her husband likely don’t actually have any serious plans to discuss food habits with their son, “but they are sure discussing you right now”.

Yikes.

At least people turned up to the child’s birthday, unlike one unfortunate boy we wrote about last summer. Presumably the kid’s birthday was also celebrated on the correct day, too…

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