Adults are well within their rights to decide how they spend their birthdays, and one woman recently shared on Reddit that she has a clear vision for what she wants her upcoming birthday trip to be like. Unfortunately, her friend wants to bring her newborn baby along for the journey, and it's not exactly baby-friendly.
She writes, "I’m turning 25 in February and was planning a weekend girls trip to Chicago. I have a friend who’s about to give birth any day now and our birthdays are ten days apart. I was hesitant to invite her in the first place since she’s about to give birth but another friend let slip about my party so she basically asked if she could come along too. I said sure and then she said she would have to bring baby girl along."
The plans aren't ideal for a baby.
"Now on this trip, I was hoping to cross a bucket list item off my list – taking edibles and going to an aquarium while in Chicago," the original poster (OP) explains. "Finishing the night off with KBBQ and drinking. An environment I wasn’t comfortable having a baby around. My friend doesn’t see the problem with bringing her two month old along at all."
Her friends are on her side.
"Everyone agrees with me. The baby shouldn’t come with. My friend says that since I don’t have kids, I shouldn’t have a say in how she raises her baby."
People get the woman's perspective.
One commenter writes, "It doesn't sound as if you are trying to have a 'say in how she raises her child', you are trying to have a birthday party consisting of activities totally unsuitable to a 2 month old baby. Your friend needs to grow up to the reality that when she has a child, she has to be an adult and a parent that means a change in her social activities. She invited herself along on this outing; it's not a kiddy party so she probably better rethink that."
The mom might really need to make some adjustments.
Another person writes, "This feels like a move by a 25 yo who is jealous of her single, childless friends and wishes she could still do stuff like this. It’s completely unrealistic and mommy is lying to herself that expecting to go – with a baby, no less – is not okay."
They think the friend needs to stay firm.
A third person suggested, "I honestly find it terrifying this woman wants to bring a fragile two month old (they're SO tiny at that age) on a trip like this. OP, just text her, 'Listen, I'm not comfortable having a baby come on a trip like this, maybe another time, but it's just not going to happen for this trip. We can plan something more relaxed that the baby can join us for in the future.' If she keeps responding saying she's the mom, or whatever, just repeat the same thing, 'I'm sorry, the answer is no.' Don't change one word of your answer until she realizes she's not going to bully you into another answer."
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