A birthday party at Build-A-Bear has gone viral after a child’s mother decided to collect all of the stuffed animals made at the event to be part of the birthday gifts.
According to a Reddit post that has recently resurfaced on TikTok on the account “Unplugged Moments,” a woman attended a birthday party at the store with her 7-year-old niece where the plan was to eat at the mall’s food court, then go to Build-A-Bear, where the children were to create custom-made Teddy bears, and then go back to the birthday girl Sarah’s house for cake.
There were a total of eight children, including Sarah, at the party.
But when the group arrived at Build-A-Bear it turned out a party hadn’t been booked at the store. Instead, the girls were treated as just “regular customers coming in,” the TikToker explained.
“On the invite, mind you, it says ‘Sarah’s 7th birthday’, what we’re going to do, ‘every child will be able to build a bear,” the aunt noted on TikTok.
@unpluggedmoments Niece didn’t get to keep the Build Better from Sarah’s 7th Birthday party. Reddit storyteller. Reddit stories. #birthday #birthdayparty #reddit #birthdaygirl #buildabear #birthdaycake #birthdaygift #birthdaysurprise
♬ original sound - Unplugged Moments
Sarah’s mother covered the price of all eight children to make their bears, and the aunt spent an extra $35 to cover additions to the stuffed animals like outfits and accessories.
After the group all took a photo together with their bears, Sarah’s mom told the children to hand over their stuffed animals to Sarah.
“Cue the birthday mum — ‘Okay, thank you, everyone. Now you can hand over your bears to Sarah. Thank you so much for building a personal bear so that Sarah can remember you by,’” the TikTok message recounted.
“I thought they were going to keep the bear. I thought that was it ... So I may be in the wrong, but I looked at the invite again and I was like, it didn’t say anything.”
Despite her assumption that the bears were considered part of the birthday party activities and would be counted as party favors, the aunt decided not to dwell on it and went back to Sarah’s house where the birthday girl then opened her presents and ate cake.
But the aunt ended up caving when it was time for an activity called “game town” where the other children watched Sarah play with all of her new stuffed animals.
She then pulled Sarah’s mother aside to discuss the situation.
“I tapped the mom and said, ‘Excuse me. Maybe I have a misunderstanding; on the invite it says the kids were able to ‘build a bear.’ She was like ‘Yeah build a bear for Sarah to keep.’”
Instead of arguing further, the aunt left the party. She returned at t later time with her niece to Build-A-Bear where the girl could make another stuffed animal — to keep this time.
The TikTok message received over 13 million views.
“What?!?! Why does she need 8 BEARS?!?! WHAT?!” one stunned commenter questioned.
Another agreed, writing: “So Sarah got 8 new Build-A-Bears plus her own presents? That's craaaazy work.”
Others complained that Sarah’s mother should have clarified what was going to happen on the invitation.
“‘No gift necessary, the kids will be building a bear for Sara, take home bears can be made at parents’ expense.’ THAT IS WHAT THE INVITE SHOULD HAVE SAID,” one person wrote.
