Man gets irrationally angry over kid’s behavior

DEAR HARRIETTE: My friend “Fred’s” daughter’s birthday was approaching, and her friends wanted to surprise her. All of her friends met and shared their ideas for what to do. When her birthday arrived, they surprised her with balloons and food. To everyone’s surprise, one of the guests blew out the candle for the birthday girl, which made her upset. She cried a lot, and Fred got angry at the kid because it was his daughter’s birthday, not theirs. How should Fred have approached the situation since it was just a kid, and she may not have fully understood what she had done? — Inappropriate Behavior DEAR INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR: You haven’t said how old Fred’s daughter is, but you have described the friend group as “kids.” My advice to Fred is to let it go. Of course it was not appropriate for the friend to blow out the birthday girl’s candle, but who knows why this happened?