A mum says she has been left conflicted after letting her son's vegetarian friend eat meat at a party. The woman says the child's mother blasted her for letting her son eat a meat pie at the event.
The 39-year-old mother took to social media to gauge if she was in the wrong for the incident which occurred at her 10-year-old's birthday party. The woman took to Reddit, to explain that her son wanted a sleep over for his birthday, with six friends in attendance.
The mother says she explained the logistics of the event to all the children's parents as well as asking them if there were any food allergies that she needed to know about. One of the parents came back saying her son, Alex, was vegetarian.
The mother made an effort to ensure there were vegetarian options there for the child but was left stunned by his actions on the day of the party. She said: "Fast forward to party day, kids are having a ball and I take out the food. I come back with more and notice Alex eating a meat pie.
"I didn’t want to embarrass the boy in front of his friends by taking it off him so I just let him eat. He didn’t seem to mind or notice that is was meat.
The mother didn't think too much of the incident until she got a call from the child's mother the next day. She added: "Anyway he must’ve told his mum what he had eaten as she called me up the following day and got angry that I served meat options at the party.
"I said my son loves pies so I wasn’t going to omit them from the menu just because her son was attending. And I presumed her son knew what he could and couldn’t eat.
"A few more choice words and she hung up. I spoke to my son about Alex’s vegetarianism to see how strict his diet is but my son didn’t even realise Alex was vegetarian so I’m wondering if Alex knows he is vegetarian?
The mother says she told her sister about the incident, who told her that she should have stopped the vegetarian child from eating the pie. In a further update, the mother said: "Yes I announced what each food was when I put it on the table.
"And I said ‘meat pies’. I had 4 other dishes which were all vegetarian!
"I honestly thought this would have been sufficient. The boys have been on school camps and all so I assumed Alex was equipped with the necessary knowledge about his diet."
The 'pie-gate' incident was quick to cause a stir on social media, with users quick to give their thoughts on the mother's actions. Many people were supportive of the woman and her choice to serve meat options at the party.
One person said: "He's old enough to know if what he wants to eat. Don't worry about it."
Another agreed, adding: "She expected the ENTIRE party to be vegetarian just because her son is? Incredibly self centred."
However, other disagreed, believing the mother should have stepped in and stopped the child from eating the meat pie. One person said: "The kid DOESN'T know what he's doing or the consequences.
"That's what the adults are for." Another said: "A quiet, gentle “hey, I just wanted to let you know that our you’re eating has meat in it; are you sure you want to eat that?” wouldn’t have been misplaced."
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