Mom Starts Debate After Another Mother Didn’t Give Her Child Cake at a Party

Influencer Kat Stickler, 28, just sparked a parenting debate on TikTok and people have many thoughts.

Stickler’s three-year-old daughter Mary-Katherine met some new friends at a birthday party in a park. As children often do, MK joined the other kids and technically “crashed” the party. As the influencer explains, everything was “very cute” until a mother at the party denied MK any birthday cake.

The influencer, filming a quick video from her car “two hours” after the incident, was shocked. She asked her followers, “Am I entitled, or was this messed up?”

“The only people I’ve ever mom-shamed are myself and my own mother. But one other mom is going to be added to the list,” she explained.

As Stickler explained it, crashing the park party was all fun and games until cake time

The Tampa, Florida-based TikToker described on TikTok, “MK and I were at the park in my neighborhood, and it was us and this birthday group, right?”

“Literally just us and this birthday group,” she explained. “These kids are having a birthday party and MK’s playing with them for like, half an hour.”

At first, it really was all fun and games for everyone involved. “They were making friends, it was nice, it was actually very cute.”

However, they soon found themselves in rough waters… at least when it was time to sing “Happy Birthday.”

Stickler explained, “MK goes over, she’s one of the group right now, alright? They’re welcoming her with open arms. Or so I thought. I was wrong.”

“Time to eat cake. I see MK, I see her intention of grabbing a piece of cake, so I walk over to make sure it’s okay. As a formality,” the influencer said.

“[I thought] obviously it’s okay. It’s a cake, it’s a massive cake. There’s lots of leftover pieces.” Unfortunately, a mother at the party didn’t allow her three-year-old to eat any of it.

Stickler could barely believe it: “The mother takes away the plate from MK and gets down to her level and says, ‘You cannot eat this cake, okay? This is not your birthday party. These are not your friends. Where’s your mother?”

I’m sorry ma’am… what?

Now, the influencer’s video sparked a debate on birthday party etiquette for strangers’ kids

Many people are siding with Stickler on this. Over on her TikTok video, which has since amassed nearly 15 million views and 60,000 comments, tons of users are in disbelief about the mother’s behavior.

One person commented, “I hope [the mother] sees this and is embarrassed for at least 3 years.” Another added, “I can’t believe a parent would treat a child like that regardless! I’d be super happy to share cake with a new friend my kid has made.”

Yet another wrote, “If ANYTHING I would just check with you to make sure she’s okay to have a piece. That’s insane that she took it back 😳.”

In fact, many seemed to take even more offense at the cake mother’s “These are not your friends” comment. One user put it like this: “These are not your friends?! Oh hell no.”

Yet another put it like this: “I cannot tell you how many slices of cake I’ve doled out to new friends at our park bday parties. Like… it’s a public park… be kind.”

Over on Twitter, one user said that even though they’re not huge on kids, they would have given the child a piece of cake and a goody bag:

Yet another theorized that her Latino culture possibly makes her side with Stickler even more. “Maybe it’s because I’m Latina and this influencer is as well, but like when I was child it was normal… No one would deny cake to a child.”

Still, others are calling out the influencer for “entitlement,” while some warn against giving kids any food

It seems like the vast majority of people on social media agree with Stickler and continue to call out “cake mom” for her “audacity.”

However, not everyone sides with the influencer. Over on Twitter, one user put it like this: “I’m with cake mom. Like, I’m not feeding strange kids in the park. What if that kid has an allergy?”

The user also wondered if Stickler had formally introduced herself to the other mom, since she allegedly asked MK, “Where’s your mother?”

Another also disagreed with Stickler, writing, “‘These are not your friends’ is too extreme for a child [in my opinion] but I understand not giving the cake to the child. I’m not giving food to a strange child too 🤷🏽‍♀️ The mother should have introduced herself.”

Yet another chimed in, “We can discuss how cake mom shouldn’t need to go that far, but we need to recognize this mom created the situation.”

One more user also talked about avoiding giving kids food because of the risk of severe allergies. “Nope. Let a kid have an allergy the mom or whoever didn’t know about, now you’re a murderer.”

Still, as one viewer wrote in disbelief, “I can’t believe people are agreeing with [cake mom]… Lack of community is at an all time high.”

One more also debated the “allergies” argument against giving a stranger’s child cake. “The ‘But allergies’ argument is a cop out. Very easy to say ‘Let’s ask your mom first.'”

Meanwhile, this is Stickler now whenever she goes to a public park with her daughter:

One bright side? The influencer told TODAY that she took MK for ice cream and cake after the park fiasco. “She was totally fine,” she said.