Who knew that gender reveal parties were still a thing? Well, they are—at least in certain corners of the internet. For one couple who decided to host one of the controversial parties, the reveal ended less with a bang and more with a group effort to make one.
The baby’s gender did get revealed. But hopefully TikToker @thetoxic1, AKA “Mom,” got better at dealing with tricky maneuvers. Because no matter the gender, baby still needs mom.
Don’t Fumble The Ball
She and her party were at the Cheesecake Factory for a gender reveal. Curious onlookers peer in the background of the TikTok video.
That’s probably because it looks like something from old-timey physical comedy—think The Carol Burnett Show. Something seemingly simple goes increasingly wrong.
The TikToker is trying to find out the gender of her baby, but the answer she’s looking for is inside of a balloon. And she’s having real trouble popping it.
Yet the woman’s focus remains solidly on the inflated latex that’s resisting her best attempts. “Why is it not doing it?” she asks after someone off-screen finished their countdown to pop it. So she tries again, holding the pin tight and jabbing at the giant balloon.
Her guests are shouting encouragement. “Pop it,” says someone. “Harder,” says another.
Finally, after more time than one might think necessary, someone comes up to help her. He looks at the balloon, seems to mark it, and then forces the pin through the latex.
The balloon explodes and tiny pieces of blue confetti fly everywhere.
No-Mess Balloon Not A Success
In the caption to her video, the TikToker humorously regretted her choice of inflatable. “My Failed No Mess Ballon For My Gender Reveal,” she wrote. And users are quick to lambast her for her inability to tell the future.
“The first and last gender reveal at Cheesecake Factory. Cause why would you do that?” snarked Kalirose99 (@kalirose99).
But by far, the most internet ire is reserved for a comment shouted by one of the guests. Off camera, a man says, “They’ll clean it up.” He’s exhorting the TikToker to really go after the balloon with some force, which will cause the confetti to fly everywhere and leave it to the workers to clean it up.
“They’ll clean it up is crazy,” the top comment reads.
“Yall could’ve did it outside atleast..” another said.
“A cake or smth wasn’t an option??” a third questioned.
“Disrespectful to the people in the restaurant,” a fourth wrote.
Where Did Gender Reveal Parties Come From?
The originator of gender reveal parties is Jenna Karvunidis, who hosted her own party back in 2008 mostly because she likes parties and cake. But back in 2008, she was also a blogger, so she blogged about the party. Then, the party was written up by a Chicago magazine, and after that, the parties were a thing.
These days, gender reveal parties are more often in the news for the way they go wrong rather than right. As one writer put it, “Now they’re associated with extravagance and disaster.” There was the one in California that sparked a wildfire (more than 13,000 acres destroyed), another in New Hampshire that triggered an earthquake, and one in (of course) Florida featuring an alligator.
As for Karvunidis, she now says that not only does she regret starting the trend, but her views on gender have evolved. “Plot twist! The baby from the original gender reveal party is a girl who wears suits, but really goes outside gender norms,” she’d posted to Facebook in 2019.
She says, “She’s telling me ‘Mom, there are many genders. Mom, there’s many different sexualities and all different types,’ and I take her lead on that.”
To be fair, the TikToker’s party didn’t break, burn, or terrify anyone. There were just some pieces of baby blue paper floating around.
BroBible reached out to 2Xteezy via TikTok direct message and with a comment on the post. We will update this if she responds.
@theetoxic1_ My Failed No Mess Ballon For My Gender Reveal 🥲😅 #genderreveal #pregnancy #boymom #fyp #trending