I’m 22 and I have a toddler. She’s a very calm baby and cries very rarely. Even if she does, I can quickly calm her down.

Recently, my friends decided to throw a small party. I also really wanted to hang out with them. I’m a single mother and no one could babysit my daughter at that time. I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal to bring my toddler with me.

I turned up, came into the room holding my baby in my arms. My friends instantly went silent. I said hi and was going to sit on the couch with them, but one of my friends put a pillow where I wanted to sit down. She gave my baby a weird look, said, “What is THIS?”. I was standing near the couch, nobody wanted me to sit down with them. I felt so unwelcome.

It got even worse when my baby started crying. My friends rolled their eyes and said, “Here we go.” The party host got up and slowly led me to the door. When she made sure we were alone, she whispered, “We want a normal party, sorry,” and slightly pushed me out of the door.

I broke down and took a taxi home. It was the most horrible thing that had ever happened to me.