Most of us can remember our birthday parties as kids; some involved family while others were celebrated with a few friends but in the case of one 6-year-old, he wanted to celebrate with his 32 classmates.
The Arizona student named Teddy chose to include his entire class to celebrate his 6th birthday party over a trip to Disney World or a day at LegoLand.
His mom Sil Mazzini booked a table at Peter Piper Pizza in Tucson and gave his teacher the 32 invites to hand out to his class two weeks before the big day.
Sil said she even received 15 RSVPs for her son’s big day and had paid for the pizza and prepared the goodie bags, looking forward to a memorable celebration for her son.
But sadly it turned out to be memorable for all the wrong reasons as not one of Teddy’s classmates showed up.
The family waited an hour and still nobody came so instead of leaving their son to sit alone at his birthday table they made the most out of their trip by playing arcade games and eating pizza.
Dad Ted Bollinger said it was a sad experience for Teddy but he bounced back after they managed to distract him with games.
“I was bummed, I was bummed out for sure,” Bollinger told the New York Post. “Teddy, the biggest thing for him was having his classmates there, so not seeing them show up an hour into the party was disappointing.”
Heartbroken mom Sil decided to post about the lack of parents, who despite saying they would be there, never showed up with their children for Teddy’s big day.
The image of her son Teddy sitting alone at his birthday table in front of uneaten pizzas soon went viral, winning the hearts and sympathy of thousands of people and many sent gifts after a local news station shared her post.
She added that only one parent called to apologize for not showing up after the incident, but Teddy’s classmates apologized to him the following day in school.
After, mom Sil said she regretted posting the image as she didn’t realize how much attention it would get. The family was overwhelmed with the reactions, and she hated every minute of exposure the post got.
She revealed that they would not organize a party for Teddy’s seventh birthday, and instead, she would take him on a trip.
But because of Teddy’s disappointment he and his parents were invited by the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Rising MLS team to their upcoming games.
Hundreds of people, including the players, celebrated Teddy, and he was given a cake while cheerleaders sang and waved at the six-year-old.
I think highlighting the fact that nobody could be bothered to show up for this little boy’s birthday was the right thing to do as it reminds people to be more thoughtful.
No parent should have the heartbreak of seeing their child sitting alone on their birthday and no child should have to go through that. I’m glad Teddy was eventually spoiled for his birthday and at least his classmates said sorry.
