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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think Barbie dolls in party bag is a bit OTT?

80 replies

Babyblade · 23/02/2013 20:21

My 6yr old DD went to a party today and came home with a proper 12" Barbie as her party bag gift.

Is this over the top?

It's my DD party tomorrow and the girls are getting a small craft kit and chocolate figure each, total cost per girl less than £1.50. Barbie dolls cost AT LEAST £10 each - for 12 girls, that's an absolute fortune!

AIBU or just stingy?

To make matters "worse" the DC who hosted the party today is also invited tomorrow.

OP posts:
notactuallyme · 23/02/2013 20:46

zigzag - make an exception? I'm quite nice and pleasantly anti social ...

Original poster
Babyblade · 23/02/2013 20:47

Seems like she's a clever shopper! :)

I think my aim with the our party bags was not to provide more endless plastic tat. Barbie's aren't tat, although not everyone's cup of tea, I was just a bit stunned.

OP posts:
scottishmummy · 23/02/2013 20:49

It's not a competition yiu don't have to feel compelled to up ante
Im not sure what you're stressing about,do your own thing
Is wee girl chuffed with barbie?

Original poster
Babyblade · 23/02/2013 20:55

MrsMushroom - double :o at the Claire's gift card!

The Barbie was the only thing in the bag except for a piece of cake & a craft box that they'd decorated during the party.

I don't know the mum well but she seems pretty down to earth and not a show-off, which is why I was a bit surprised. £3 is above my budget but she definitely put smiles on faces :)

Feeling calmer now I know that the original £10 present (which i thought it was) isn't the norm.

OP posts:
stormforce10 · 23/02/2013 21:05

I can beat that.

My cousins 12 year old DD goes to a private school (on scholarship and bursary) where there are a lot of rich kids. She recently came home from a party with a party bag containing a digital camera, a high spec memory card and a £15 voucher for photo printing. Oh and that was after being taken for a tennis lesson and a meal out!

Hope that makes you feel better OP. My cousin is freaking out about her DD's next birthday party

Clary · 23/02/2013 21:10

For years I put a book in each party bag - I used to get them from Book People (now I see they even suggest it themselves in the catalogues!) so they cost about £1-£1.50 each, but the cover price would be £6-8. Hope no-one thought I was being fancy!

GregBishopsBottomBitch · 23/02/2013 21:12

Sometimes you get barbies at like 3 quid, the cheap basic models.

MammaTJ · 23/02/2013 21:13

Off on a tangent, mt DStD told my DD1 that Barbie 'is a tart'. Cue lovely hatred of all things barbie. Also, invitation to very posh house for a birthday party and my DD announcing when the Barbie cake got brought out 'I know all about Barbie, Barbie is a tart'. Blush

80sMum · 23/02/2013 21:18

Blimey! When my DCs were little, party bags contained a slice of birthday cake wrapped in a serviette! And the kids were usually given a balloon to take home. The party itself was at the child's home and comprised pass the parcel, pin the tail on the donkey etc.

Journey · 23/02/2013 21:58

Agree with notactuallyme.

AgentZigzag · 23/02/2013 22:04

Shock at stormforce and Grin at Mamma.

How was the nugget that Barbie's a tart taken? Hopefully with raucous laughter.

perceptionreality · 23/02/2013 22:09

Some people do this - I remember my dd once came home from a party where the 'party bag' was a remote control car!!

takeaway2 · 23/02/2013 22:12

When my DS was 4, he came home from nursery with a toy car (battery operated thing with lots of noise). Huge. Apparently a child at nursery had her birthday and her parents bought every child in their room a toy. Huge toy. The boys got the cars and the girls got a Barbie.

bedmonster · 23/02/2013 22:13

Oh god, a few years ago we ended up with 8 of those stupid flying flutter Disney fairy things. Dds weren't interested in them in the slightest and agreed to use them as party bag toys instead.
They retailer back then at around 16-18 quid.
That and a piece of cake was all they got. They were all delighted as were the dds as we split between them money we would normally have spent on party bags, about a fiver per bag.
I don't care who thinks its competitive, they were unwanted crap in our eyes.

AmberSocks · 23/02/2013 22:19

there was a thread on here not log ago where someone wanted to do that,they had seen them half price for a fiver and the whole toy section was bogof,so 2.50 each really.

Even if they had paid full price what does it matter?doesnt mean they are showing off,maybe they just want to give them something that wot get broken or throw i the bin?which if we are honest tends to happen with the stuff usually found in party bags.

youmaycallmeSSP · 23/02/2013 22:21

:o mamma

I thought the whole point of party bags was to see who could get the best contents for the least amount of money? It's the unspoken rule round these parts anyway!

wonderingsoul · 23/02/2013 22:24

I'd prefer Barbie over tat.

ds party bags had DVD some sweets and a balloon and a picture to colour in... DVD,, was a kid movie from poundand...

I prefer spending my money on things that will be used rather then broke thrown I the bin with in 5 minutes of leaving the party.

AgentZigzag · 23/02/2013 22:33

I quite like plastic tat, the DC get the same amount of enjoyment out of them than they would something costing £20+.

DD2 has spent hours playing with a crappy little tape measure she got out of a cracker at Christmas, much more time than she has her V-tech 'pink 'puter'.

Same risk of stepping on/spilling juice over/breaking it by sticking a sticky sweet in the working parts of the expensive toy.

Then you can hoover them up when you've had enough of standing on the fuckers Grin (if they've stopped playing with them of course Grin I'm not that nasty)

montmartre · 23/02/2013 23:46

Honestly- anything is better than the plastic tat party bags usually contain!

AgentZigzag- I envy you, because my children will never let me throw away anything that has been brought home from a party bag, even if it's broken!

That's why the ones we give out only ever contain a book, colouring pencils, and chocolate (no haribo, too many children who cannot eat gelatin in our area).

IneedAsockamnesty · 23/02/2013 23:53

I know its a very strange thought but there is no law saying you have to have party bags at all.

You could just not have them

MrsMushroom · 24/02/2013 00:03

Yes but that's dreary Sock. I love doing bags and so do the DC. It's nice when a child has turned up to your child's party to send them away with a little gift.

AgentZigzag · 24/02/2013 00:14

Mine don't either montmarte Grin it is really weird how attached to a plastic bit of tat they can get actually.

But the setee is my friend.

We wouldn't be able to sit down on it if all the things I said must have gone under there (and I'm not getting them our ) were actually there Grin

montmartre · 24/02/2013 00:30

Ah- that's where I'm going wrong... ours has too large a gap between the seat base and the floor!

KC225 · 24/02/2013 01:06

My local Asda had some Barbie's on sale for £ 2.50 - I bought a few for presents, along with A4 Barbie pads (with stickers) for £1.00

MariusEarlobe · 24/02/2013 01:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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