A mum has been left heartbroken after hearing how her son was the only child not invited to a classmate's birthday party.
She explained that her eight-year-old son returned home in tears after being embarrassed in front of the entire class - and having it "rubbed in his face".
She says her son is inconsolable, especially because he considered the birthday boy a good friend.
Taking to Reddit, the mum said: "My son came home crying because another student, Mike*, handed out birthday party invitations to all of his classmates except for him.
"It happened in his classroom and there are 18 students in his class. When my son asked Mike why he didn't get an invitation, Mike apparently replied with a big smirk 'I guess you didn't make the list'."
She went on to explain how her son regularly plays with Mike at break times - but he is said to have a 'mean streak'.
"I have no issue with Mike not inviting my son - it's his party and he can invite whoever he wants," she added.
"But it seems unnecessarily cruel for Mike to deliberately exclude my son, and only my son, in front of his classmates at school.
"My son already has difficulty fitting in and finding friends to sit and play with at lunch and recess.
"My son is bright and kind - though a little off-beat with his love for horses, steam engines, and old musical recordings.
"I worry it will get even more difficult for him now that Mike has signalled to the other classmates that my son is to be rejected and excluded at school."
Wanting to make sure this doesn't happen again, the mum spoke to her son's teacher and principle about their policy on handing out birthday invitations.
However, she learned they do not have a policy in place - but have agreed to implement one.
She said: "A part of me wants to name and shame Mike's parents through the class chat group but that would probably just hurt my son more in the end.
"It just hurts my heart to think about Mike and some of the other kids rubbing this party in my son's face every day at school for the next few weeks and him feeling rejected and left out.
"I made a list of fun things for us to do over the next couple of weekends and his mind seems to be focused on those things."
While most users praised her for helping to implement a new school rule, others shamed Mike's parents for allowing him to exclude one child.
One user said: "It's possible that Mike's parents sent him to school with invitations for the whole class and he decided on his own to exclude your son.
"If his parents did allow it, that's messed up, but I wouldn't assume."
Another user added: "If he's mean to your kid, I don't think you would want him to go to his birthday party anyways, honestly.
"Try to spin it as a good way to learn that you don't want to hang around people who treat you badly."
A third user said: "This happened by accident once, for my daughter’s party in kindergarten I had addressed invitations to every child, but one apparently got dropped somewhere between home and school.
"The kid (accidentally) excluded asked my daughter if he wasn't invited and she didn’t know, so she just said, 'I guess not'. I didn’t find out until years later. I felt really bad."
*Mike's name has been changed for the purpose of this article.
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