Australian mom invites a 5-year-old over for a playdate. Then she allegedly sends the mother a $31 invoice: ‘You’re charging me for a playdate?’

An Australian radio show, 2DayFM Breakfast with Nath & Emma, brought attention to a story that sparked a debate about the costs of a playdate, according to Bored Panda.

The story started with a mom claiming that another mom sent her an invoice following a playdate their children had. In the messages shared on Bored Panda, the cost of the three-hour playdate came to $31 for the supplies used by the daughter.

Radio hosts Nath and Emma drew attention to the story, adding their own thoughts and providing a platform for listeners to chime in. The question is how acceptable it is to ask other parents to chip in for what their child uses at a friend’s house, particularly when it’s a playdate and not when the parents asked the person to babysit.

The mom allegedly received a charge for the food and supplies her daughter used

In the texts that were shown, the mom was confused when she was sent the cost of her daughter’s share, asking the other parent, “Her share of what?” The other parent allegedly responds, “The playdate.”

As the exchange continues, the other parent claims what her daughter is being charged for: “Lunch, snacks, juice, and the craft supplies.”

The mother responds that her daughter was invited to go to her house, and the response is that hosting isn’t free. Apparently, the daughter used a lot of beads from kits that aren’t cheap, and most parents are happy to contribute. One commenter said, “Ask for an itemized bill just to be petty.”

Nath and Emma debated the playdate charges

During their radio show, Nath said on the topic, “If you’re going somewhere, if you’re going to a theme park, if you’re going to the movies, sure, take your money like you’re going on an excursion like through school. But if you’re just going over to play Nintendo Switch.”

Emma brought up what the lunch and snacks might’ve been, saying, “Yeah, and have some nuggies and veggie sticks for lunch.”

With that in mind, if the charges were broken down into USD averages, a juice box is about 40 cents on average at Meijer, so the child could have five juice boxes for two dollars. Since the lunch isn’t specified either, we’ll assume that it’s something along the lines of chicken nuggets and veggies, like Emma suggests, which should be around five dollars for one child, bringing the total to seven.

We’ll add another five dollars for snacks to be generous, putting the current total at $12.

Beads are the difficult estimate, as we don’t know what type or what kind of kit was used. Michaels Stores offer a bead kit for $12 for the entire kit, while Target has a 2,750-count bead set for $15. Being generous again, charging for the full kit and the more expensive one would only bring the total to $27.

Price averages could be different in Australia, but $31 seems like a lot for a short playdate that didn’t include paid activities.

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