The mom of a six-year-old boy has asked for advice after a 'stupid' mistake she made left her child being 'shunned' by his entire class.
It all started when the mom, who named herself 'Party Pooper' while asking for advice, received an invitation for her son to attend the birthday party of one of his classmates.
The invite had all the standard information - location, dress code, etcetera - but the mom was surprised to see it also had a link to a gift registry 'filled with items that the little boy was hoping for'.
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In a letter written to the Mail Online's Dear Jane column, the mom explained that all of the gifts on the registry were over $40, which she thought was 'crazy'.
She also admitted she hated 'wasting money on silly things like plastic toys and brain-rotting junk', so she responded to the invite asking if she could choose a gift of her own.
In response, the hosts responded to say that if the mom 'wasn't willing to 'adhere to the list they'd prefer [she] didn't bring a gift at all'.
The mom chose to do exactly that, but when the birthday boy started opening presents and realized her son hadn't brought anything, he was left in tears.
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"From there, the party was a nightmare. None of the other children would talk to my son, and I whipped him out of there as soon as possible," the mom explained.
She claimed her son has since been 'effectively been shunned by everyone in his class, and he has been left out of every other birthday party', leaving her desperate to try and rectify the issue.
"My six-year-old is miserable and all because I decided to take a stupid stand against something so small and petty. I feel horrible about it, but I'm completely clueless about how to fix it," she wrote.
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After hearing the mom's issue, Jane agreed that the gift registry sounded 'ridiculous' and encouraged her to avoid trying to 'buy [her] son's way back in to popularity'.
Instead, she advised trying to find him other friends outside of school, 'whose friendships are not based on money or gifts'.
Jane also advised the mom to be open with her son about the issue, stressing that friendship shouldn't be based on money, 'but because we are good people'.
Emily Brown