A mother has expressed her heartbreak after no one showed up to her daughter’s third birthday party, despite inviting 27 of the child’s friends.
Breanna Strong, 27, who goes by the username @breannamstrong on TikTok, shared a video describing the outcome of her daughter’s birthday party on Sunday, where posted a video of an empty room set up for the party.
“We invited 27 kids to Avery’s third birthday party,” she wrote in a text caption on the video. “Not a single one of her friends showed up.”
In the video, Strong filmed the empty room, which included place settings for each child, as well as the birthday cake she’d purchased for her daughter. The TikToker also filmed herself throwing a pizza box into the garbage while claiming the party was “money and time wasted”.
The video also showed Avery sitting alone on one of the benches eating a slice of pizza, with Strong noting that it “breaks [her] momma heart so badly”.
“Literally going to go home and snuggle my babies,” the TikToker continued as she filmed herself sitting in her car.
In the caption of the video, which has since been viewed more than 4.4m times, Strong wrote: “I wish I was making this up.”
The clip has prompted an outpouring of comments from viewers upset by the video, with some revealing their own experiences throwing parties where no one has shown up.
“This happened to one of my daughters. Now I make sure we show up to everyone’s party we are invited to. I never want to see that pain for any child,” one person wrote, while another revealed that their family always goes to parties they are invited to to ensure this doesn’t happen.“This is a rule at my house. If we are invited, we’re GOING!” they wrote. “We have been the only ones that showed up. So sad this happens, I’m so sorry.”
Other viewers said they follow similar rules in their own households, with one viewer revealing that they go to every party they are invited to, especially if they RSVP.
“This happened to me on my 16th birthday. Never tried again until I was 26 and it happened again,” another person revealed. “I’m 39, now I always treat myself to a spa day.”
According to someone else who acknowledged the video was “so sad,” they avoid having parties for their children because of fears that no one will show up. “We don’t do these parties because I have a fear of this,” they wrote. “We prefer smaller parties with just family and close friends.”
Others questioned whether Avery was “heartbroken” by the turnout, to which her mother revealed that the three year old “got everything she wanted,” including pizza, cake and a jungle gym, and didn’t “know any different rather than having fun”.
However, Strong said that the party had a huge impact on her as a mother, as she said it “shattered [her] heart”.
In addition to the sadness shared by viewers, many took the opportunity to share birthday wishes for Avery.
“Happy birthday Avery! Much love from Vancouver,” one viewer wrote, while another said: “Happiest of birthdays to this beautiful girl! Big birthday hugs from her friend in Quebec.”
In a follow-up clip shared to TikTok on Monday, Strong shared a video montage celebrating her daughter’s birthday. “Happy birthday Avery girl,” she wrote in the caption. In the comments, hundreds of viewers shared birthday wishes for the toddler.
The Independent has contacted Strong for comment.
