Mum turns to the Internet for advice after no one shows up to 6-year-old's birthday party

Whether it’s a run-in with the school bully or a disastrous family holiday, it can prove hard to forget difficult memories from our childhood.

That’s what one parent fears for her child, after nobody turned up to his sixth birthday party.

Taking to Reddit for advice, the mother explained that she had invited eight families of 18 children alongside their parents.

“The parents emailed me asking for gift ideas, telling me how many siblings to expect, saying how excited they were... and all eight families no-showed,” she wrote [sic]. “I get that it’s Mother’s Day, and yeah the weather wasn’t great, but would it kill you to send me a damn text message?!? What am I supposed to tell my son?”

After the nobody showed up the previous year, the child’s mum made an extra effort to give plenty of notice and even chose a strategic time slot to enable as many people as possible to attend.

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She continued, “We sent out invites a month in advance with multiple reminders. Booked the venue, got the party supplies, decorated cupcakes - the works.”

“We anticipated a lower turnout due to Mother’s Day, so we over invited and made the party noon to two thinking it would be after brunch or before a bbq, typical Mother’s Day activities.”

But sadly, nobody showed up and the parents were forced to carry on with a smile on their faces.

“My son seemed to have a good time until he realised all of the empty place settings when we did cake,” she wrote.

Fellow Reddit users promptly took to the post to encourage the mother to confront the parents for not attending.

“I would personally call out every single adult,” one commented. “This is disgusting and no way to behave at all. Everyone can have emergencies coming up. But writing a quick text at least should always be possible.”

Another agreed, adding: “You need to confront these parents. It is not OK to do this. Not only did you out money into a party for no shows, more importantly, this is a crushing blow to a child's self-esteem.”

“It always breaks my heart a little when I hear about this kind of thing,” a third wrote. “When my kiddo was little, he was invited to a birthday party and was the only kid to show. Since then, it pretty much takes contagious illness or a death in the family for us to miss a party when he gets an invite and I’d never be so rude as to just no show without so much as a text.”

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Instead of directly calling out the parents for their hurtful actions, the mum sent out notes which read: “Hey, sorry we missed you at the party! I hope everyone is feeling okay. Next time, please send me a text to let me know if you won't make it. (Son) was really sad that (child) didn't make it, and I didn't know what to tell him.”

Thankfully, the family made sure to see the silver lining and tried to make the best of the situation.

“We also took my son out to dinner at his favourite restaurant, and today we had cupcakes for breakfast,” the mother wrote. “I have adorable mini sandwiches pre-made for my lunches for the next two weeks and a surplus of disposable plates and cutlery for when I'm feeling lazy.”

“The two dozen roses that were not claimed by the mums of the guests became mine, and now my office smells fantastic,” she added.