Outrage Erupts On TikTok As Mom Charges For Child Playdates! (Or Does She?)

Ever get a Venmo request after your child visited their friend's house for a playdate?

A mom started a heated argument online after sharing a video asking to "normalize sending the other family money for playdates."

A content creator on TikTok who goes by @shay.nanigans87 has ruffled some feathers by suggesting that sending a bill to her daughter's friend's family after having a playdate at her home should be normal. Is she for real, or is she just "rage baiting" as her bio says she likes to do?

TikToker Shay started quite the conversation when she revealed that she recently charged her daughter's friend's mom $15 after a playdate at her home.

"So recently my daughter had a friend over and I asked her mom for money and this is how it went," Shay said. "So after the playdate, I texted her mom and I said thanks for letting Jamie play today. Please help out with your share of the expenses for the playdate totaling $15 via Venmo."

Shay said she couldn't keep up with the playdates if they were going to cost her money and explained her breakdown of what it cost her.

"She used supplies and food while she was here," she continued. "And this way, we can do this more often without a monetary obligation on just one party."

Shay shared a screenshot of the alleged conversation between her and Jamie's mom, showing exactly what the requested $15 would help with.

"There was chalk, applesauce, fruit, she sat on the couch, that's wear and tear, she actually broke a toy, she had three juice boxes, she went to the bathroom, she had yogurt," Shay explained.

"Then she actually sent the money and I sent her a message thanking her for it of course. She didn't say anything else."

Before ending her video trying to "normalize" this type of behavior, Shay asked her viewers a loaded question - "What do you guys think?"

Her video received more than 1.4 million views and 22,000 comments!

It seems that many viewers had something to say about Shay's big idea to normalize sending a bill after a child's playdate to offset costs. And pretty much the majority of comments were all on the same side of the argument.

"I’d send you the $15 then never speak to you again," one person wrote. Another added, "I’d be very uncomfortable if the person hosting a playdate kept track of how many times my kid needed to use the restroom."

And there's more where that came from!

"You lost me with wear and tear on the couch and counting a child’s bathroom visits," one viewer shared. Another said, "Even if I was in the worst financial situation I would never charge anyone let alone a child a fee for couch sitting."

There were also quite a few people that understood this could very well just be a video to "rage bait."

"This has GOT to be rage bait. You can't ACTUALLY be like this, right? Man, you need help. How terrible," one person pointed out. Another added, "I’m learning what rage bait is all about."

In a follow-up video about the playdate bill, Shay revealed that she's now getting Venmo requests from viewers who saw her original video.

"Y'all are big mad about me charging for playdates. So mad that I'm getting Venmo requests to send people money for wasting their time watching my video," she said. "But, I made some changes, so that I can charge less next time someone came over."

She then went through some of her changes, including the type of juice box she would serve her daughter's friends, cheaper hand soap in the bathroom, and taking the couch out of the playroom.

It appears that people who didn't understand the original video was "rage bait" started to catch on during the follow-up.

"Ohh she is joking okay," one person wrote in the comments. Another said, "10/10! Best rage bait I’ve seen in a while."

Replying to a comment left on one of her previous videos, Shay gave more clues that it's just all fun and games and not a real situation.

"It's best that my daughter doesn't have any friends. I'm the best influence that she needs," she said. "I can't control what other people teach their children and what their children are going to try to impose on my child if they are around her. So the best friend she can have is me."

It seems that while most people caught on that she's not charging for playdates and doesn't really feel her child doesn't need friends, there are still some who were missing the point of the videos.

"This is taking helicopter parenting to another level, having friends teaches sharing, and social awareness when other children are around," one person wrote in the comments. Another shared, "Just wait 3 or 4 more years she will be embarrassed of you for being her mom just wait."

And while most people fully understood Shay was "rage baiting," many TikTokers created stitches to talk about their thoughts on charging for playdates. Her video got people sharing their thoughts on if that actually was a reality. Check out all the stitches here.