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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

DD swapped a £60 doll for a Mcdonald's toy

58 replies

DowntonNappy · 27/02/2013 09:21

Yesterday, dd's school was holding a 'recycle your toys' day. The infants had to bring in a toy they didn't want anymore (which had to be in good condition) and swap it for a toy another child had brought in.

So i asked dd to pick a toy that she wanted to recycle. She picked her old Baby Born doll that i'd bought her two years ago. She's hardly played with it, and her gran bought her a newer one this Christmas.

I told her she had to be sure, because she wouldn't be able to get it back. She told me she was sure, and wouldn't compromise by taking in a smaller toy instead such as one of her cuddly toys.

Anyway, she came home yesterday and showed me what she'd swapped it for - a toy from a Happy Meal, which didn't even work (it's one of those ones you twist the dial on to make it spin, and it was missing the dial).

AIBU to be annoyed about this?

I wasn't expecting dd to come home with anything extravagant btw, just something she'll be able to play with. She hasn't even looked at the Happy Meal toy since she showed me it.

OP posts:
BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 27/02/2013 09:24

This reminds me of the time I swapped my mums grandmas engagement ring for a packet of bovril crisps.

YANBU for being a bit fed up about it but thats kids for you - my DS buys all sorts of crap, likes it for 2 mins and then never looks at it again.

fuzzywuzzy · 27/02/2013 09:24

There's not much you can do about it, it was going to happen.

A friend years ago swapped a fully furnished Cindy doll house for a torn book.....

Next time dont give her a choice hand her the toy she can take to swap.

How does broken toy translate to 'good condition'?

Callisto · 27/02/2013 09:26

I think any doll is creepy and those Baby Born ones are vile, so on that front yabu. Also, you allowed your DD the choice of what to recycle so yabu to be annoyed about that too.

The crappy meal toy would have annoyed me too though. Not exactly in the spirit of 'recycle your toys' day is it?

TiffIsKool · 27/02/2013 09:28

You haven't lost anything since your DD didn't play with the Baby Born anyway. At the expense of sounding like Toy Story, at least this way it has found a home where presumably it will get played with.

Softlysoftly · 27/02/2013 09:29

Shouldn't have let her take on the expensive toy I doubt anyone else would be so extravagant.

However a broken maccy ds toy is taking the mick a bit that parent should feel the shame.

WorraLiberty · 27/02/2013 09:29

So it's nothing to do with the fact her doll cost £60 is it?

It's the fact the toy she chose doesn't work.

YANBU to be annoyed it was incomplete...I'd have a word with the teacher.

EstherRancid · 27/02/2013 09:30

YABU to be upset, you agreed she could take it!

GhoulWithADragonTattoo · 27/02/2013 09:32

To be honest I think this is a pretty stupid idea by the school as there's bound to be a discrepancy in quality between what different children bring in. But I think it's obvious that a £60 doll is far to valuable to take in. I would have thought most mums would have taken a board game or jigsaw costing less than £10 that their child was bored of but that someone else would enjoy.

A broken happy meal toy is obviously not in the spirit of the thing but perhaps the family genuinely didn't have anything they could swap. But I do think YABU to take in something so valuable it was never going to end well.

CupidStunt48 · 27/02/2013 09:32

I wouldn't have allowed my DD to take an expensive toy like that, I cant imagine the other children brought in toys of the same value.

I would also be very annoyed at the toy your DD swapped it for and I would also be having a word with the teacher about this.

Original poster
DowntonNappy · 27/02/2013 09:33

I don't think the teachers noticed it was broken as the character part of the toy was intact; it was just the dial that was missing.

I know you're right. The doll didn't get played with here anyway. But at least it was in good condition. DD has loads of malfunctioning toys i could have sent in instead.

TBH, i'd probably still be annoyed about it even if she took in one of her cheap teddies. But she would never have allowed that as she loves her cuddly toys.

OP posts:
EllieArroway · 27/02/2013 09:34

I think any doll is creepy and those Baby Born ones are vile, so on that front yabu

Eh? You personally don't like dolls so the OP is being unreasonable for buying her daughter one, or being pissed off that it was swapped for something crappy? What a very strange thing to say.

I'd be pissed off too, OP, but there was a certain inevitability to it. But look on the bright side - she clearly loves old tat, so Christmas and birthdays will be way cheaper from now on Wink

EstherRancid · 27/02/2013 09:36

and i also agree it's a really daft scheme - to many infant-aged children recycling is about which bin you put your crisp bag in Confused

mamalovesmojitos · 27/02/2013 09:37

Aw, this actually made me Smile. Just shows the cost doesn't matter to dcs! YANBU to feel a bit miffed but I think you should just accept her decision & be proud that you let her make it herself. And yes, as previous poster said, rejoice that you can spend less on presents in future!

Callisto · 27/02/2013 09:37

Hmm think you missed the point (and tongue-in-cheekness) of my post Ellie.

Shesparkles · 27/02/2013 09:39

YANBU to be cheesed off, unfortunately it's one of those things you have to mark down to experience (FWIW you'd have had to scrape me off the ceiling if it were me though!)
My kids' school has done this kind of thing in the past, except they get to BUY some other child's random piece of crap. I didn't allow mine to take part after the first time-I do think it's a recipe for disaster

Yakshemash · 27/02/2013 09:39

This reminds me of when I gave away a complete antique metal farm set to a little boy who 'came to play' with me once. No idea who he was - some random cousin probably. My parents were most put out - it was a family heirloom, apparently (and would have gone for ££££ these days on FlogIt).

ElephantsAndMiasmas · 27/02/2013 09:41

Haven't you ever read Jack and the Beanstalk? Just plant the broken toy in the garden and watch as it grows into a ladder of plastic shite reaching all the way up to the home of a giant cannibalistic Ronald McDonald.

Do report back.

Kendodd · 27/02/2013 09:43

So, she swapped a toy she didn't play with for a toy she doesn't play with? If you take the cost out of the equation she hasn't really lost anything.

Were you planning to sell the doll?

vamosbebe · 27/02/2013 09:43

Yanbu to be peeved at what your dd got as it was broken, but yabu to mention the cost of what she (by choice) took to school. If she hadn't played with it in two years why not ebay it?
Basically, once something has been gifted, the receiver can do whatever they want with it, godbsmacking as that may seem.

limitedperiodonly · 27/02/2013 09:45

Was it compulsory? I would have been traumatised Grin I didn't want to part with any of my toys. I still have loads of them.

MortifiedAdams · 27/02/2013 09:46

Good on your dd OP. Also, its not necessarily that the person who brouggt the Happy MEal toy got the doll - wpuldnt they all just put the stuff out and kids pick from the lot.

Also, the child who brought the Happy Meal toy may not have many working toys so I wouldnt begrudge the parents sending them in with a token something. And it is nice to think that an unplayed with doll has gone to someone whe may actually play with it.

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 27/02/2013 09:46

In all honestly, I wouldn't have let her send such an expensive toy in anyway!

pumpkinsweetie · 27/02/2013 09:46

Yanbu to be pissed of that the toy she recieved was broken. But personally i wouldn't have sent in a doll worth £60, as i know my dc would probably switch it for something of low valueGrin, as i know my dc.

JenaiMorris · 27/02/2013 09:47

Confort yourself with the thought that

a) Another child is going to get some pleasure from their new toy

and

b) You've offloaded some tat (albeit to be replaced by some more tat, but at least it's slightly smaller and more easily "lost").

Don't think about the inequity of the swap in financial terms.

dietstartstmoz · 27/02/2013 09:47

My dc's school do a 'toy exchange' day every yr. I always send in something in good condition but my dc always always come home with something broken, generally crap that is fit for the bin. A lesson learnt for you for future years maybe?