Wwyd? Broken toy.

[SpiceLinerandHoneyLove]

Keeping this very short to avoid outing.
DD had two friends to play today. In the garden and sandpit. All well and good. Her friends are sisters, about 18 months between them. All children aged under 4.
Sandpit/outside toys all outside.

Bit hectic, repeated asking other children not to throw gravel, bring toys from house outside etc. Trying, but normal.

Then mum of friends extracts from her youngest DD one of my DD's toys, a pullalong she's had since birth with buttons that make it talk. Well, not anymore. It's full of sand. Her DD had taken it from inside and buried it in the sandpit. It's beyond repair.

I'm not normally precious but it was one of the first toy we got DD and we hoped her new brother/sister would also play with it.

I've googled a replacement and it's not made anymore. Amazon is only place at £25+

WIBU to ask for a replacement?

[Vickyyyy]

I didn't know MNHQ put posts on FB?

[KateSMumsnet]

@PrimalLass

MUMSNET HQ: As the OP stated in the first sentence that she was trying to avoid being outed, it is a bit rubbish that you decided to put this one on Facebook.

Sorry folks - that was shortsighted and careless of us. We've now deleted that FB post. OP, we hope that it hasn't caused any problems for you IRL, let us know if there's anything else we can do

[Psychomumsucks]

Why are some posters being so nasty? I agree on not asking for money as these things do happen, my little ones main xmas present got broken about a month after she had it and i was gutted and had a whinge to myself and moved on, however to say to the origional post that she is being precious over a plastic bit of tat, is quite harsh we all get attached to things. My youngest had a musical lamb toy from she was five weeks old and id thought it had broke one day, partner fixed it but it only cost a fiver and wasnt made anymore and the cheapest one was 30 quid and i couldnt just afford that but it had sentimental valye and gave me and my daughter comfort, was i being over the top about some plastic when i got really upset that it wasnt working and found i couldnt buy it again, no i wasnt because things no matter how cheap end up having meaning and that matters.

[Whatthefreakinwhatnow]

It's £25! If it really means that much to you, don't be tight and just buy a new one yourself!

[SpecialAgentFreyPie]

Wat MNHQ put shit on FB now??! I thought Twatter was bad enough!

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

HQ put threads on Facebook? ffs

[PrimalLass]

MUMSNET HQ: As the OP stated in the first sentence that she was trying to avoid being outed, it is a bit rubbish that you decided to put this one on Facebook.

[Reapwhatyousow]

It's hard I know but put this down to experience and move on a little bit wiser.

[PersianCatLady]

I think you have to learn a lesson from this and in future put precious toys out of reach.

If you insist that your friend pays to replace the toy you may find that in the future mothers will be wary of letting their children play with your DD and in the long run she will be the one that misses out.

[paxillin]

'Repeatedly asking' a two-year old not to bring a toy she can reach outside is about as useful as asking the wind not to blow.

[wiltingfast]

Please do not be utterly ridiculous. The children were playing with toys. One is broken. These things happen and you do not ask friends to replace them

Am amazed after 18m you have any sentimental attachment whatsoever to noisey plastic

[DeathpunchDoris]

Accidents happen. No one dies and life goes on. Enjoy the precious times you have with kids and friends - broken toys can be fixed or replaced whereas memories, friendship and happy times cannot. Try and let it go - one day your child may inadvertently do the same to another's toys...

[DiptyqueandDiamonds]

Is this a what would you do or a 'was I unreasonable?'. I can't see from your posts OP that you have actually asked for it to be replaced. Clearly, you shouldn't if you were even thinking of it.
But I also can't see where you said you were huffing and puffing and rolling your eyes or neglecting the children....
It was a hard lesson but if you are so sentimental then it's good to learn it now so something irreplaceable doesn't get broken.

[OhGodWhatTheHellNow]

Oh Christ the quacking ducks - I slipped them into the school fair and DD bought them back.
DH was delighted - they were his sentimental attachment

Quackquackquackquackquackquackquackquackquackquackquackquackquack. Quack.

[gandalf456]

I don't think I could bring myself to ask. Imo, the etiquette is you say don't worry,the parent offers and you refuse.

I do think £25 is quite expensive to brush off and I would be annoyed especially after having asked several times not to take toys outside. I wonder at what point do you say, actually, yes, please, I would like it replaced and how exactly you word it.

Perhaps op could have put it away but reasoned how exactly could this toy have got broken. I certainly could not have envisioned such a toy landing knee deep in sand.

I do hate playdates actually. You can't predict other children, yours get silly and don't listen and other parents have different attitudes and you feel you have to either chill out when you don't want to or be the strict disciplinarian when you'd rather not whilst you keep smiling.

Friendships can be affected by this nonsense but then they tend to be fickle anyway so perhaps it's easier to follow your heart on this one.

[PenguinsAreAce]

Was it those fucking quacking ducks?

[Dinomum79]

Mycraneisfixed I agree with you . As a parent I think you have a duty to make sure your kids treat other kids toys well. At 7 they should know better! If the mum didn't bother I wouldn't have them back either . In this case however the kids were so young it's a bit different ,the mum sounded apologetic . These things happen

[Haudyerwheesht]

Yabu they're toddlers. Tbh if they were wandering in and out the house unsupervised you're lucky it was 'just' a toy!

[gillybeanz]

You live and learn OP, it's only stuff.
Chances are you next dc would have broken it.
Also even if you'd wrapped it up in cotton wool, what's to say it would still work in 20 years.
The kids won't be at all bothered when they are older, believe me.

[iMatter]

Yabu I'm afraid.

Lesson learned - anything vaguely precious/important, keep away from other children.

[MummyTheGregor]

yabu but I do understand - Its annoying but chances are that you'd get a replacement and new sibling wouldn't play with it anyway as they'll be too busy trying to pkay with theirs older siblings toys as opposed to anything age appropriate and it'd be a waste of money....
At least the mum apologised and reacted appropriately, I used to have a friend whose dc were complete wrecking balls and broke all sorts of stuff without blinking an eyelid thats more galling (don't see them much any more - phew!)

[GnomeDePlume]

Mycraneisfixed, wow! so you banished a 7 year old for 3 years (so far) for what exactly? Getting a bit silly,?

You do know that a 7 year old is a child?

[Mycraneisfixed]

I understand your annoyance. DGS had a friend over to play in the family sized paddling pool and, despite being told not to take any toys from the playroom outside ( plenty of garden toys out there) the older sister aged 7 went into the playroom and took his battery operated flashing lights Playmobil police car and put it in the pool. Killed it. He was very upset, the mum ignored it. I replaced it and those children haven't been invited over again. That was three years ago.

[Ruthie74r]

i can't even believe this post is for real tbh?

[Batteriesallgone]

Lazy a painful afternoon of supergluing might leave you with something even more precious with your own love/labour tied up in it. I speak from experience as a glued together ceramic animal heirloom owner, now one of my most precious possessions.