In Australia, a mother has revealed her frustration after kids didn’t show at her daughter’s birthday party, luckily, strangers in the neighborhood are around to save the day.
Tiarna Davis, 24, from Toowoomba, Queensland told her devastation when she realized none of the 20 kids she had invited to her daughter Arabella’s third birthday party could make it.
“Over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, everyone that I had actually invited to the party had slowly begun pulling out,” the frustrated mom said. “Come Sunday morning everyone that was invited had actually pulled out.”
“They told me their kids were sick, things had come up and one friend even said their dog had died,” she said. “I was just so sad for her when I realized no one was coming.”
Tiarna said she had gone to a lot of effort for the party, ordering balloons, a large mini mouse cake, and creating party bags for Arabella’s guests.
Tiarna’s heart was ready to break thinking that she had to tell her three-year-old birthday girl that no one was coming to her party. But not wanting the preparations to go to waste, she reached out to locals through posting on her Facebook page.
Although the mom was nervous, she pleaded with her community to help her little girl celebrate her birthday. She also asked people to consider attending the party with their children.
“It was definitely outside my comfort zone, and I honestly didn’t know if anyone would respond,” the mom said. “I even deleted the post twice before telling my mom and actually putting it up.”
And as the post went public, Tiarna was overwhelmed with messages and comments from moms who couldn’t bear to see a little girl sad and alone on her birthday.
“My phone just would not stop going off,” she said. “Anyone that said they would come I was sending my address to — my backyard was pretty much full.”
Tiarna said it was frightening to ask for help on a public forum but the kindness of a group of strangers ensured Arabella didn’t have to celebrate alone.
“I honestly don’t know how many people came, the house and yard was full and Arabella had the best time,” Tiarna said. “She didn’t know any of the kids, but she just bounced from group to group making friends.”
“I ended up spending $200 on pizza to feed everyone, there was that many people that came,” she added.
The party went from 12:30 pm to 4 pm giving the kids and parents plenty of time to get to know each other.
“We have actually made some pretty good friends and will go on some play dates with the kids in the next few weeks,” Tiarna added. “Arabella is the kind of kid who will play with anyone, so it worked really well.”
The event has led to new friendships for Tiarna and Arabella.
“She wasn’t really fazed that none of her friends were here, because she had the chance to make new friends,” she said.
The mom said she has learned a lot from this experience.
“I am so glad I decided to be brave and go with my gut, now I know that I should listen to it more often,” she explained.
And her partner agreed as well saying that he was shocked by the unbelievable turn-out and humbled by his community’s kindness and generosity.
“When I told him I had posted it he was shocked and couldn’t believe it when the messages started coming in,” Tiarna said.
Tiarna added that although she had told strangers that it was not necessary to bring gifts, several guests still brought presents saying that they wouldn’t go to a birthday party without one.