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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

... to not offer to give back donated baby clothes?

54 replies

Nessalina · 28/05/2015 20:04

One of my cousins has just found out she's pregnant again. She already has a three year old boy, and when we had our baby last year, although we hardly ever see her (not very close due to age gap & distance) she donated via my aunt a big old box of clothes and quite a few toys, which we were very grateful for. We double checked that they weren't a loan, feeling like it was a bit odd to be giving away stuff that they may use again, but my aunt said she was apparently swearing blind that they weren't having any more kids.
So all her donations got mixed up with our own purchases, gifts etc. Once he'd gone past the age ranges, we boxed up what we will use again (hoping to start trying again later this year), and charity shopped the rest.
Now she's pregnant again, I'm worried that she'll expect clothes back, if not the same ones, then an offer of what we have, but I really don't want to give any away when we will be using it again in the future, and I don't want to loan it out as that gets super complicated... If she'd indicated at all she might want them back I'd have labelled them and kept them separated! I don't even know if she'll ask, but I've no idea what I'll say if she does!
So AIBU to just keep my packed up baby clothes for no.2 in my loft and not offer them to her??

OP posts:
Nessalina · 29/05/2015 19:37

If I had lent baby clothes to someone, I would expect to get most of it back it good nick. But I know it's not a guarantee which is why I prefer not to lend OR borrow. If I had given clothes away I would expect nothing back. I would be pleased if the favour was returned, but I wouldn't think twice if it wasn't. You should never give to receive, I'd consider THAT to be the 'entitled' behaviour tbh.

OP posts:
drspouse · 29/05/2015 19:47

I was given huge amounts of clothes by a friend, we couldn't even use them all as soon as we were given them as they wouldn't fit in the drawers (think 40 white vests in each size plus a load of others, similar quantities of all other things, some not in very good nick). I asked if she wanted them back to hand on to others (she had already said their family was complete) and she said no.

When I've been given larger quantities of clothes by other people, or other things, I've asked the same, "will you want them back to hand on" (which is a lot less direct than "are these to keep"). If they don't want them back, I give any I can't use to charity immediately to be honest, and after they've grown out of them I ebay/charity shop them (because at that point I can't remember which I bought, I have I think probably ebayed things I was given, but I am not sure how I could avoid that).

Single items, when they are hand me downs, I could probably locate if the giver asked but not off the top of my head. For example a neighbour who has an older DC than our DC1, and a younger DC than our DC2, spotted DC2 in a top and said "ooh I recognise that, does it have trousers to go with it?" and happily I knew exactly which she meant - both of us had forgotten it was a hand me down from her but it is still in good nick and DC2 will grow out of it soon enough for her DC2 to still fit in it so all happy.

Nessalina · 29/05/2015 19:51

And once again - I do NOT know what stuff was my cousins. We were given quite a bit as handmedowns from different places and we literally tipped it all out on to the lounge carpet and sorted out what we wanted to keep when we were first given it, then when he grew out of it, we did another sort and got rid of anything he hadn't worn or was past its best, and just kept the bare minimum.

OP posts:
drspouse · 29/05/2015 21:25

That is pretty much what we have done except that we tended to get the hand me downs at different times from different sources.

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