Posted in Parenthood

Birthday Party Nightmare – Five-year-old misses friend’s birthday party and gets invoice for £15.95

   January 20, 2015  39 Comments on Birthday Party Nightmare – Five-year-old misses friend’s birthday party and gets invoice for £15.95

I read in The Guardian today about a little boy who missed a birthday party,  was invoiced £15.95 because of that and have been threatened with legal action if his parents do not pay. I thought gila betul lah this mat salleh. Having organised 4 birthday parties for my eldest son, Miki and two for my youngest, Rafa… I kinda know how party works… And actually, bukan mat salleh je buat benda bengong macam ni… Kat Malaysia pun ada. Haha!

Here I am writing about a few situations that I have encountered myself.

birthday party

 

1) Never send an RSVP but later turn up with 5 people

I don’t know lah maybe these parents never organised a party themselves or they do not know what RSVP (répondez s’il vous plaît)  is for. When you don’t respond, parents of the birthday child would take it as you are not coming. So they won’t be preparing that much food and more importantly in a kids birthday party, the party packs. It would be sad for a child to attend a birthday party when everybody else gets a party pack or goodie bag except for him alone but nak buat camana sayang, MAK KO TAK RSVP!

If the party is held at home, where the food is catered and all that shouldn’t really be a problem and in my kids’ parties before this, I don’t think we ever ran out of goodie bags. But in cases like the one in the news, if the party is held one of those fancy kids activity center for example , RSVP was very useful as they charge per pax.  Tapi ada je yang datang party macam ni, without RSVP tapi tiba-tiba muncul bawak anak 4 orang… hmmm…

2) Jemput orang datang party tapi kena bayar (dafuc?)

My kid was once invited to a party at one of these fancy kids’ playground if I was not mistaken Kizsport in Bangsar Village. By the time I wanted to RSVP, the birthday boy’s mom announced that she already had 15 kids coming. But it is okay, she said very nicely… Miki can still come but had to pay RM25. *pitam tergolek dog*  Anak ko tu memegang tahta United Kingdom kah, harus ku bayar untuk bertemu dengan nya? Kthanxbai!

I knew how it works, the playground offers a party package for, let’s  say 15 kids for the cost of, let’s say RM500. And additional children would be charged RM25 each. So mak sapa lambat RSVP disuruhnya bayar sendiri.  I think kalau begini tahap berkiranya baik order bihun goreng makan kat halaman rumah je lagi barakah kekdahnyaa ye tak?

3) Come to a kids birthday party but bring no gifts

I like to organised parties for my kids sebab Miki and even Rafa sangat enjoy lah! Miki loves pinatas, birthday cakes, games they play etc very-very much.. He talks about it for days. He also  loves going to his friends’ parties for the same reason. My own reason on organizing parties for him was of course to see my kid happy! Secondly, being Melayu and Islam, parties like these are just another kenduri, bagi orang makan dengan niat bersedekah. That’s why I don’t mind friends coming beramai-ramai RSVP atau tidak. Terlebih bilangan kepala atau tidak.. haha! Datanglah, main puas-puas, Auntie Di belum cukup gila meroyan lagi nak suruh mak ayah korang bayar sendiri.

But! Bila ada yang datang without gifts for MikiRafa, I feel quite sorry. I feel like they don’t really care about the birthday child, they are just here for the free food and free entrance tickets to the high-end playground. Bukan kita datang nak meraikan birthday boy/girl tu ke?

Ah, it is Okay lah! At the end of the day, I always feel happy to have buat kenduri again, bersedekah again. Miki and Rafa also have way too many toys and gifts that they can remember. Besides, I am very honoured for them to come and meet with us. They actually spared their precious time. Thank you!

I will definitely host a party for Rafa’s 3rd birthday! InsyaAllah will invite Miki and Rafa’s close friends. 🙂

birthday party chillis

PS- Miki turned 7 last Saturday, 17 January 2015. Happy birthday Miki, Mummy will write about you turning 7 in another entry.

 

Author: Diyana

39 thoughts on “Birthday Party Nightmare – Five-year-old misses friend’s birthday party and gets invoice for £15.95”

  1. Hi Diyana. Stumbled upon your lovely blog today, and great writings you have here! Speaking of birthday parties, or any party for that matter, I get very upset when people don’t RSVP or don’t apologize if they could not make it. Some don’t even a mention about it like nothing happened! Maybe its just me, but I think its rude. Anyway keep on writing! 🙂

  3. Kak Iena, insyaAllah jemput. Miki dah 4 kali party.. jadi Rafa pun kena at least 4 kali.. barulah menjadi parents yg adil. hehehe

  4. Hi yunayuni… thanks for reading. yeah quite rude. i must admit I am guilty of rsvp but not showing up to a wedding one time. and felt guilty like hell for.. i think I until now.. huhuu! 🙂

Leave a Reply