A mom has sparked fierce fury after she revealed that she asked guests coming to her daughter's first birthday party to bring $5 contributions to her backyard renovations instead of a gift for her child.
Rachel Gibbs, from Houston, Texas, left many people on the web outraged after she spoke out about the 'unusual things' that she was planning for her daughter, Hazel's one-year-old birthday celebration on TikTok last month.
She revealed that she didn't want to spend any money on the party, which meant she would not be serving a meal or cake, and had no plans to buy decorations or provide any games for the party-goers to play.
She also said that she instructed guests on the invitations to not bring toys or clothes for the birthday girl, but in leu of presents, she asked for donations toward her lawn work - and her admissions did not go over well with social media users.
![A mom has sparked fierce fury after she revealed that she asked guests coming to her daughter's first birthday party to bring $5 contributions to her backyard renovations](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/18/16/83815339-13323577-image-m-2_1713453822152.jpg)
A mom has sparked fierce fury after she revealed that she asked guests coming to her daughter's first birthday party to bring $5 contributions to her backyard renovations
![Rachel Gibbs, from Houston, Texas , left many people on the web outraged after she spoke out about the 'unusual things' that she was planning for her daughter, Hazel's birthday celebration](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/18/16/83815449-13323577-Rachel_Gibbs_from_Houston_Texas_left_many_people_on_the_web_outr-a-10_1713453899016.jpg)
Rachel Gibbs, from Houston, Texas , left many people on the web outraged after she spoke out about the 'unusual things' that she was planning for her daughter, Hazel's birthday celebration
![She revealed that she didn't want to spend any money on the party, which meant she would not be serving a meal or cake, and had no plans to buy decorations or provide any games](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/18/16/83815445-13323577-She_revealed_that_she_didn_t_want_to_spend_any_money_on_the_part-m-7_1713453875382.jpg)
![She revealed that she didn't want to spend any money on the party, which meant she would not be serving a meal or cake, and had no plans to buy decorations or provide any games](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/18/16/83815457-13323577-She_revealed_that_she_didn_t_want_to_spend_any_money_on_the_part-a-9_1713453894505.jpg)
She revealed that she didn't want to spend any money on the party, which meant she would not be serving a meal or cake, and had no plans to buy decorations or provide any games
![She also said that she instructed guests on the invitations to not bring toys or clothes for the birthday girl, but in leu of presents, she asked for donations toward her lawn work - and her admissions did not go over well with social media users](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/18/16/83815439-13323577-image-a-13_1713453922956.jpg)
She also said that she instructed guests on the invitations to not bring toys or clothes for the birthday girl, but in leu of presents, she asked for donations toward her lawn work - and her admissions did not go over well with social media users
'This is a list of things I'm doing for my daughter's first birthday party that are just a little bit not normal,' Rachel began in the now-viral video, which has been viewed more than 622,000 times.
'I specifically put on the invitations, "Please do not bring gifts,"' shared the mother-of-two.
'Homegirl needs nothing. If you feel inclined to bring something, consider $5 because we're trying to remodel our backyard.
'Our backyard is a train wreck. Bring us $5 to help us redo our yard - that's what we're asking for.
'She does not need anything. Also, I am very picky so I don't want you to buy s**t for my kids.'
During the video, Rachel said she didn't want to fork out any money on a party that her daughter 'wouldn't remember.'
She said that meant she had no plans to give guests food or alcohol, except for maybe a few snacks.
'Please eat before you come, there will be some snacks and that's it,' she shared. 'And I'm not doing games. I'm not doing anything really.
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![TikTok users certainly had thoughts about Rachel's party plans, and the post was quickly flooded with a slew of negative responses](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/18/16/83815427-13323577-image-a-16_1713453939093.jpg)
TikTok users certainly had thoughts about Rachel's party plans, and the post was quickly flooded with a slew of negative responses
'This is gonna be a very '90s vibe party, where I have a ball pit out and maybe some toys. I'll put the Pikler Triangle and the trampoline up outside and that'll be that.
'I am not spending money on this. I'm just not. I spent money to get the invitations printed and that's it. It's not going to be expensive.'
Rachel also said that she scheduled the party for 9:30 in the morning, and added that she made it clear on the invites that it will only be an hour-and-a-half long - and that guests need to leave immediately after it ends.
'I literally put 9:30am to 11am on the invitation. I want you all to know I don't want you at my house all day,' she stated.
'Anyone coming to a one-year-old's birthday party is already up at 9:00am or they can suck it up for one day because it's over at 11 and you still have your entire day.
'I don't expect you to sacrifice your entire Saturday for a child's birthday party, she's not even gonna remember it. And at the end time, please leave my house. My child needs to nap.'
TikTok users certainly had thoughts about Rachel's party plans, and the post was quickly flooded with a slew of negative responses.
'Tacky to ask for $5 to go towards your home,' one person slammed. 'If it's a child's birthday, money should go towards something your child needs.'
'It's giving narcissism,' replied someone else. A third user added, 'This is insane. Why not just cancel it and do a GoFundMe for your backyard. Sounds like the worst "party" ever.'
'I don’t get the point to have the party. No gifts, no games, no food, no CAKE. Sounds like a work meeting,' read a fourth comment.
A different user said, 'This is terrible I’m sorry. I hope no one shows.'
'How the hell do you ask your guests to get up at 8 am to attend a birthday party and not feed them?' asked another person.
'So you want your guests to get up extra early on a Saturday morning and you’re not even going to feed them. Just say you're cheap,' replied someone else.
In a follow-up, Rachel responded to some of her haters and defended her decision to ask for money towards their yard renovations.
![In a follow-up, Rachel vowed the money would eventually go towards her daughter, explaining, 'We want to redo our backyard so our kids can play in it'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/18/16/83815475-13323577-image-a-34_1713454045372.jpg)
In a follow-up, Rachel vowed the money would eventually go towards her daughter, explaining, 'We want to redo our backyard so our kids can play in it'
'She's not gonna care or remember that she didn't get presents at her first birthday party,' she stated.
'We give stuff away weekly. We have so much stuff we don't need anymore. I didn't want to put "no gifts" because then people still feel obligated to bring a gift, so that's why I was like, "If you feel inclined to bring something, $5." That's why I put that.'
She added that she's been trying to 'focus on intentional spending' recently, and didn't think it was right to fork out 'hundreds of dollars' on decorations that will be just be thrown away after the party.
'I will use what we have, I will print stuff and be resourceful. It's not gonna be lame,' she insisted.
'But I'm not gonna spend $3,000 on a first birthday party. I'm not gonna rent out a venue.
'I'm not gonna do all of these things. We really just want people who love her here. We just want to be together.
'I don't know what point in time parties became about the people that were invited - it's the same with wedding culture.
'People will be like, "If you don't let me bring my kid then I'm not coming." OK then don't come it's not about you.
'It's a birthday party for a one-year-old. No one's graduating from medical school it doesn't need to be a whole thing.'
In a third video, she said that 'asking for $5 at a kids' birthday wasn't a new thing,' and vowed the money would eventually go towards her daughter.
'We want to redo our backyard so our kids can play in it,' she added. 'We want to get this great playground and it's going to take some work.'
But her follow-up posts were only flooded with more nasty comments.
Afterwards, Rachel posted a tearful clip of herself revealing that she would be stepping away from the video streaming platform amid the immense backlash.
'Hey so I'm gonna be taking a little bit of a break from TikTok because that video I posted about Hazel's birthday party, people do not like it,' she said as she broke down in tears.
'People are not happy ... Apparently I'm the s**ttiest mom on the planet for that. Apparently I don't love Hazel because of that.'
Rachel added that she had been 'sobbing' for a while over the comments.
'Y'all, I'm a f**king person. Content creators read their comments. If you see something you don't like, block that creator,' she concluded.
![But her post was only flooded with more nasty comments. Afterwards, Rachel posted a tearful clip of herself revealing that she would be stepping away from the video streaming platform](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/18/16/83815441-13323577-image-a-35_1713454091448.jpg)
But her post was only flooded with more nasty comments. Afterwards, Rachel posted a tearful clip of herself revealing that she would be stepping away from the video streaming platform
![Rachel told People that 'there's no "right" way to do anything when it comes to parenting,' and said so many parents feel like 'you have to go all out' for things that really aren't necessary](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/18/16/83815343-13323577-image-m-37_1713454131011.jpg)
Rachel told People that 'there's no "right" way to do anything when it comes to parenting,' and said so many parents feel like 'you have to go all out' for things that really aren't necessary
Rachel spoke about the internet's harsh reaction to her video with People magazine recently, and she further defended her decisions.
She said the party went well, and that the early start time meant 'all of the kids were so pleasant' and 'no naps were missed.'
She added that she ended up serving coffee, juice, soda, milk, donuts and breakfast tacos.
While reflecting on the hate, she said she was 'surprised' by people who branded her as 'cheap' for her admissions.
'I'm a full time content creator, so I'm used to people always having an opinion,' she explained.
'But the "cheap" comments surprised me. We wanted to have a party for our daughter but didn't want to spend tons of money.
'We also didn't want to obligate our friends into spending unnecessary money on toys, books, clothes or memberships ... because our kids have everything they could ever need (they both have 529s too!).
'I practice what I preach and I wear my heart on my shoulder, so when the 'wrong side' of TikTok gets ahold of a video, the attacks can be personal. Thankfully, I'm very well acquainted with the block button.'
She added that 'there's no "right" way to do anything when it comes to parenting,' and said she wanted to be honest since so many parents feel like 'you have to go all out' for things that really aren't necessary.
'It's clear to me that there's a heavy load on parents' shoulders to "get it right" because everything is documented now,' she said.
'There's no rule book, and at some point, none of us have ever done this before. Even a mom of six is a first-time mom to that oldest child.'