The Backstory
The original poster (OP) owns a small bake shop. Her brother and sister-in-law are expecting their fourth child and asked OP to bake the cake for the gender reveal party. She had previously baked the gender reveal cake for their other three children. They already have three boys and were hoping and praying for a girl. They even shared with everyone in the family that they are confident it’s a girl because they can ‘feel it.’ They have already started decorating the nursery for a baby girl, have a girl’s name picked out, and have been buying and requesting girl’s clothes from people. The party was going to have pink balloons and decorations as well.
To bake the cake, OP’s brother gave her the paper with the gender written on it, which nobody had seen. When OP saw that it was going to be another boy, she thought, oh no, because she knew they had prepared for a baby girl, and the party theme was going to reflect that. OP decided not to say anything because she didn’t want to ruin the gender reveal and proceeded to make the cake.
The Reveal Didn’t Go Well
But on the day of the party, things did not go well. Her sister-in-law started crying when they cut the cake to reveal the blue color and that it would be a boy. Her brother yelled at OP in front of everyone that she embarrassed them by not giving them a heads-up that it wouldn’t be a girl. OP defended herself and asked why she would reveal the gender and ruin the party.
The Brother and Sister-in-law Were Embarrassed
OP’s sister-in-law told her to shut up and started calling her nasty names. OP called her brother delusional. Since the baby shower, they have contacted her non-stop to give back their money for the cake. Her sister-in-law’s family now hates OP, and her family is trying to remain neutral. Still, they also believe she should have let them know about the baby’s gender.
What Do the Readers Think?
Many commented that it wasn’t OP’s fault.
“Professionals who should not work for family: attorneys, doctors, accountants and apparently bakers. Who knew?”
“Yet ANOTHER reason that gender reveal spectacles are stupid.”
“I mean your brother/BIL gave you the piece of paper. If he wanted to, he could have looked at it before he gave it to you. They just want someone to blame.”
“Cutting a cake to see pink or blue is fine as long as everyone is willing to accept the child for who they are. It’s a fun game. It gets weird when people react the way brother and SIL did. An when they pollute a waterfall for a town and start a fire.”
“I can understand being excited. The gender is literally the only thing you know about your baby at that point. I do agree that throwing an entire party is going overboard. OP’s family took it to the extreme, especially by celebrating the gender before they even knew what it is.”
“banking anything on correctly guessing the outcome of a 50:50 chance is extremely short sighted especially if the losing scenario results in the gambler being disappointed in their unborn child.”
One day the child will hear this story from somebody.
“This is one of many reasons why gender reveals suck. Imagine that child years from now learning there mom cried when his gender was revealed. Sorry OP but also your brother sounds like a dumbass.”
“Honestly, your SIL’s family are the ones to blame here. They got themselves heavily emotionally invested in the baby being a girl before it was certain. And now they’re blaming you rather than saying “Maybe we went way overboard in preparing for a girl.” I feel bad for that poor baby boy. Given how excited they were to see a baby girl, I wonder if the boy is going to be loved less because of his gender.”
Was OP in a lose-lose situation?
“If you had given them a heads up they would be mad at you for that too. This was a no win, shoot the messenger situation. And do not give them their money back, you did the job you were hired for. Tell them to grow up and be glad they can have a family, plenty of people who post here would be thrilled and grateful for a baby of either gender.”
Should OP have revealed the gender to her brother, knowing that the party was going to be all-pink for a girl? Should she apologize and give them their money back for the cake?
This article was produced by This Mom is On Fire.
This post originally appeared on Reddit.
Feature Image Credit: © photostocker via Canva.