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Original poster

MIL gave the children gold-plated spoons. What on earth am I supposed to do with them?!

71 replies

NotLactoseFree · 08/11/2023 10:09

The heading says it all. MIL has purchased "24 karat gold plated" spoons for the DC. They're extremely ugly. I thought, when she gave them "gold spoons" they were just gold coloured and a bit of fun. Then I read they are gold plated. Does that mean anything or is it so little gold it only adds £2 to the price and I can continue to treat them as every day spoons and if the DC think its funny to use gold spoons, great.

Should they be using them? Not using them? packed away!?

I mean WHY!?

OP posts:
CesareBorgia · 08/11/2023 10:10

If they really are 24 carat the plating won't last long in use as it will be too soft.

Original poster
NotLactoseFree · 08/11/2023 10:13

So.. they're purely the ugliest decorative spoons in the history of the world?

OP posts:
AnnaMagnani · 08/11/2023 10:15

Put them in a drawer and forget about them.

Kids may feel sentimental about them as adults.

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Original poster
NotLactoseFree · 08/11/2023 10:17

But they're not actually worth anything are they? And honestly, they're just plain gold coloured tea spoons. If they had a crest or a some decorative thing I could imagine them being sentimental but they look exactly like the cheap spoons I buy from Sainsbury's.... just a really ugly yellow/gold colour?

This is pretty classic MIL. good intentions but weak follow through! Grin

OP posts:
ThatAlbinoCat · 08/11/2023 10:18

What a crap present. My (late) MIL used to buy things as useless as that. She once save me a silver candle-snuffer (as though we've got thousands of the things to put out), and on another occasion gave us a sherry decanter (we have never liked sherry)

BIossomtoes · 08/11/2023 10:20

AnnaMagnani · 08/11/2023 10:15

Put them in a drawer and forget about them.

Kids may feel sentimental about them as adults.

This. How much space do spoons take up?

Mischance · 08/11/2023 10:22

Sell them. Buy something useful.

Nineteendays · 08/11/2023 10:23

My daughter got given a silver spoon for her christening. And my son got a silver beer mug thing. Never have known what to do with them- I mean you can’t use them and I’m not going to randomly display a tea spoon. They’re in their posh little boxes in the attic where they’ve been for the last decade and will likely remain for many decades to come

AnnaMagnani · 08/11/2023 10:24

Spoons are a very traditional baby gift. However there a so many about they have very little value although I would guess MIL thinks she has given a high value gift.

EllaMenopee · 08/11/2023 10:24

Apparently mango sorbet eaten from a gold spoon is one of the most amazing things ever. So, buy lots of mangos too?
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/jan/26/how-spoons-are-changing-gastronomy-cravings-science-museum

Spendonsend · 08/11/2023 10:25

Use them.. They will only become sentimental with use. When they are adults, they arent going to look at a random spoon they never saw before as it was in the back of a drawer, and think grandma gave us this.

SweetBirdsong · 08/11/2023 10:27

AnnaMagnani · 08/11/2023 10:15

Put them in a drawer and forget about them.

Kids may feel sentimental about them as adults.

This. ^ Sounds rude sorry, but anything gold plated or silver plated is utterly pointless. It wears off/rubs off, and leaves the basic metal underneath (often nickel or copper.) Just buy something bloody copper. Or proper silver at least. Silver is not terribly expensive. (Not compared to gold.) Probably cheaper than gold plated actually.

CMOTDibbler · 08/11/2023 10:28

My ds won some gold plated spoons in a tombola, and using them was his favourite thing in the world for years. So I vote for using them as their special spoon

Original poster
NotLactoseFree · 08/11/2023 10:29

AnnaMagnani · 08/11/2023 10:24

Spoons are a very traditional baby gift. However there a so many about they have very little value although I would guess MIL thinks she has given a high value gift.

My children are pre teens!

This is the bit I can't work out. Are they high value? I don't think so but maybe they are? Although a quick google suggests that no, they are not.

She casually gave them to DH to give to the DC. She has very good intentions and is broadly a great grandmother to the DC, but she does tend to get these ideas in her head but only sort of half enact them and we're all supposed to figure out what she wants from the rest! So casually handed over "gold" spoons that may or may not be valuable or may or may not be sentimental or pay or may not be for fun is pretty much par for the course with her.

OP posts:
Wolvesart · 08/11/2023 10:31

spoons are great little mementos and can be useful too. Apostle spoons are baptismal gifts, for example. The DH uses his napkin ring every day

Spendonsend · 08/11/2023 10:33

See i think 'bonkers grandma spoons' used for only for eggs or special occasions or tea stiring sounds like a nice family in-jokes in the making

ColleenDonaghy · 08/11/2023 10:34

I think they're probably meant as a keepsake rather than something practical, she might be a bit taken aback if she finds them in the cutlery drawer!

In time they may love this typically out of left field Nana present if she has form - may be a lovely momento one day. Back of a drawer somewhere safe for now.

Olika · 08/11/2023 10:34

I would just 'forget' them in a cupboard for some time and then when you have a clear out they disappear. My DD got a gold anklet when she was born which I found so unpractical.

AnnaMagnani · 08/11/2023 10:35

Love the idea of using gold plated spoons on your birthday

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 08/11/2023 10:36

Nineteendays · 08/11/2023 10:23

My daughter got given a silver spoon for her christening. And my son got a silver beer mug thing. Never have known what to do with them- I mean you can’t use them and I’m not going to randomly display a tea spoon. They’re in their posh little boxes in the attic where they’ve been for the last decade and will likely remain for many decades to come

About once a year I still polish the silver christening mug that was given to dh’s grandfather. It has an etched design of flowers plus his entwined initials, with the date - in 1905.
From all I gather he wasn’t a particularly nice man but for some reason dh is still attached to it.
However it’s hallmarked solid silver so perhaps dds will be able to flog it by weight once dh and I are gone. 🙂

MMBaranova · 08/11/2023 10:37

As the custodian of your children's spoons just put them away and one day pass them on.

How they deal with the wonder of being spoonchildren is something for them to handle when the time comes.

Ibravedaflood · 08/11/2023 10:37

Go the whole hog and get mil a knife /fork /spoon set for Christmas..

dylanschicken · 08/11/2023 10:39

I would pass them on to the charity shop already. I learned a long time ago to stop putting needless shite in a drawer/cupboard. Some of the crap my nanna gave my kids was unbelievable and after a time I got rid so in the end I cut out the storage stage and they went straight to charity.

InTheRainOnATrain · 08/11/2023 10:40

If the kids are preteens I’d ask them. I don’t get how they’re mementos or if shoved in the back of the drawer for years they’ll somehow develop sentimental value as some PP are saying. Clearly we think differently or you live in huge houses as if it were me they’d be straight in the bin as I have no time for any pointless clutter but the kids are definitely old enough to decide for themselves. Bonkers grandma spoons then come out for posh tea stirring, fanct hot chocolates or boiled eggs could be something fun though, I quite like that idea!