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

[DowntonNappy]

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.

FFS-you let her take it in!

Did you expect all the other parents to be as ridiculous as you and send in £60 things?! What did you expect her to swap it for!? An Xbox perhaps? A DS?

Sounds like the other parents did as I would have done and sent in something that the child wouldn't miss.

Desiderata - ooh, maybe. There are a lot of us, and many distant cousins etc.

Oh well. That's what happens when you let children think for themselves.

You would have been being unreasonable and unrealistic if you'd expected her to think carefully about swapping it only for something of equal value. I think I would have put my foot down and insisted she take something smaller/cheaper instead. I hope her granny doesn't find out.

I'm amazed the school allowed this madcap scheme. Usually they ban toys just to avoid having to referee between a wily kid and someone softhearted.

If this incident had occurred during a private swapathon that children often like to do, and you hadn't known about it YWNBU to demand a re-swap... this happened to my youngest (he came out better off) and there was no issue with putting toys back to their original owner, lesson learned.

This situation is different because you allowed you dd to take the toy for recycling, it's pretty obvious that children will no get like-for-like swaps and it's unfair and unrealistic to expect teachers to monitor individual swaps. YANBU for being annoyed.

If something gets donated to a school 'drive' then I wave goodbye. If something is brought home, it's NEVER as nice as what went...

I do think a crackers idea like this should have happened just after school when parents could have perhaps supervised their children.

If something is brought home, it's NEVER as nice as what went...

aldi we donated a few of my DDs old toys to a school fair and she bought them back with her spending money!

She was absolutely delighted

Sorry, but this really made me laugh

My dses would have done something similar given half a chance, naively taken in a lovely toy and come home with crap. I wouldn't have let them though, and that's the issue. You let her choose so you have to deal with the consequences.

As someone else said, an unloved, unplayed with doll sat in a corner doesn't really have any monetary value though. Hopefully it's gone to someone who will enjoy the doll.