Mumsnet Talk

Oh but don't wrap it up, that's just weird and could put a downer on the present opening.

I just can't see the point of wrapping it up for her sorry.

All seems abit weird to me.

wouldnt even

I honestly can't get over how unreasonable and vindictive this post is coming across. Fine, tell her again but it's a fiver, not fifty quid. She's also 8 and you're her mother.

Just thoroughly unreasonable.

How bizzare you would even think of that.

She is a child and children fiddle with stuff.

My ds opened a big pot of yoghurt the other day which belonged to me, I wasnt ready to open it yet, maybe I should have saved it and put it in his stocking

Yea do it and prove the point

Your DD will look back at this with fond memories and a misty eye at the kindness shown to her by her mummy that Christmas where she received a scraper

Five pounds is not an insignificant amount for us, we are not poor, but give up a lot so they can do things like ballet, piano, so there isn't loads left over at the end of the month. The original item (slotted fish spatula) is to replace the one which I have been using for years which is half melted. I don't need a fancy purple one, but thought it might be nice. My other Christmas presents are some wooden spoons and some scissors which are also broken. Plus dh will probably get a dress necklace or something.

Complete overreaction I think. Ask her if she opened it and remind her not to meddle with stuff that is not hers. <<remembers time dd chopped my birthday money into small pieces with scissors....>>

This is just getting stranger...

How would you feel, op, if whenever you accidentally broke something in the house your OH kept a running tally and deducted the value from whatever he intended to spend on your Christmas / Birthday presents?
Imagine the sinking feeling you'd get when the vacuum cleaner breathed it's last and you just knew what you'd be getting for Christmas that year?
She's 8.

She's 8, fgs just talk to her

Totally unrelated to Xmas, and it would be very mean to make a point using her Xmas excitement and spoil Xmas gift giving.

Deal with it separately and don't be mean.

I would never have thought about giving the item as a present but i can see where you are coming from.

It is only £5 but its not about the money is it? It could have been any item ,costing £100s belonging to anyone and she would still meddle with it.

It is still early enough before Christmas to introduce the idea of this item replacing one of her real presents without causing major trauma.

Sometimes painful lessons have to be learned and she is old enough to start learning self control.

Oh Dear God, ex posted. He already does

OMG what is wrong with you?! This is one of the weirdest posts I have ever seen.

You can't prove your DD opened a packet, and even if you could, in what realm would it be acceptable to connect this with Christmas?!

Just suck up the £5 loss and find another one to stop her from fiddling with stuff. IME, this is actually quite normal. Children do fiddle.

OP, I will send you £5 if it means you not making this effect your DD's christmas.

Isn't giving her something that she's messed about with potentially a bit risky? What if there was a gift for another child on the table and she quite fancied owning said item? All she has to do is unpack it, mess with it and suddenly it's hers...

What GhostShip said. I'll chip in.

Either my hangover is causing me to hallucinate or I am actually seeing what I'm reading...

Dh has just got back and decided I have a high temperature and sent me to bed, still feel really upset about it though, I haven't spoken to her about it, but she could see that I was upset. Dh says not to worry about it.

Sitting your DD down and explaining why it's important to respect others and their property is good. It seems weirdly passive aggressive to wrap a scraper as a gift. Just communicate with her to address her issues around 'fiddling' and pestering people. Wrapping up the 'problem' and gifting it makes no sense at all: when she tries to take her sister's easter eggs, would you gift her the chocolate too? No! It's both defeating the purpose and passive aggressive.

I don't understand You're cross dd fiddled with something, so the punishment is that she gets it for Christmas..? Um..

Christmas is 2 weeks away! If you want to punish her then do (I probably would) but she's 8, you can't punish her 2 weeks later - children just don't work like that.

I'm not sure what your Christmas presents have to do with it or why you're mentioning the sacrifices you make - totally irrelevant.

She's prone to fiddling with stuff that isn't hers, that's fine - totally age appropriate. You want to teach her not to, also fine - I would to. But there's no need to demonise her and make yourself a martyr

Very confused as to what you are hoping to gain?

Why don't you all read the posts properly? OP's DD fiddles with lots of things that aren't hers, she pesters for Easter Eggs that aren't hers - OP wants to try and stop her.

Well I don't think you are overreacting at all. Ask her if she opened it, then wrap it up and tell her she's lost another present as a result.

Lesson, hopefully, learned.

Ah, bunnies, if you're coming down with something it's easy to get things a bit out of proportion. Take it easy and Happy Christmas

decided you have a high temo and sent you to bed

hmm I think you must be feeling ill

chill out