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?

[I8toys]

YABU - its a toy and they should have been supervised better.

[Aworldofmyown]

YABU. Just replace the toy and chalk it up to experience. Precious toys that you don't want broken should be put away.

Also, how would you have felt if your DD had been the culprit?

[AliceInUnderpants]

Why would you ask for a replacement when she has already offered to replace it?

Surely if you said yes, you don't need to ask?

[Vickyyyy]

YABU. The kids were playing with toys, its not like the child deliberately broke said toy, they buried it in sand. had they looked directly at you and smashed it off the wall on purpose I would probably think differently.

[WhooooAmI24601]

I have a rule with the DCs that anything left out in the lounge/outdoors is going to be played with by everyone/anyone. They're pretty good at keeping their super-sepcial stuff up high (DS1 has a lot of huge lego constructions so keeps them on the top shelf away from DS2's fingers of evil). If stuff gets broken it's part and parcel of having DCs. It doesn't sound as though it was broken maliciously at all, so getting upset is a bit of a waste. Without wanting to be glib, it's just a toy.

[user1471428758]

Christ, you're being really snowflakey. Toys break in the hands of young children. I'm sure your daughter has broken things belonging to other people.

[Craigie]

How did 3 kids under 4 manage to get in and out of the house, carrying toys unseen? YABU. It's just a thing. Try eBay or Gumtree for a replacement.

[natwebb79]

YABU. Same happened to me with a talking 'Mack' Disney Cars truck when my friend'save little boy dunked it in water. My only thought was 'Eek I forgot to hide it! Mustn't show DS1!'. The little boy was 2 and it was my fault. These things can be replaced.

[Thissideof40]

I'd be gutted if it was me but you're talking about under 4's and they don't fully appreciate how to treat toys in different situations. There's no way I'd ask for a replacement.

[Baileysagain]

YABU if you ask for a replacement it will damage the relationship between your child and her friend. Your younger child may not be interested in the same toy anyway. Unfortunately accidents happen but it's not worth falling out over them.

[expatinscotland]

YABU!

[MumsFlouncingOnASummerHoliday]

YANBU to be upset. Do remember that your memories aren't broken and your new DC will form new favorites of their own and new fond memories will be established.

My question is....is your relationship with this other mum and her DC and the possible ongoing wispers/ repercussions really worth £25?

[Lazyafternoon]

This is what's left of a much beloved and sentimental bunny. It was something i remember from my childhood that I decided to keep from my Grandma's house after she passed away.

It broke in an accident. I'm not going to ask anyone to replace it. It was sad that it broke. There were tears. I feel really bad I didn't protect it better. End of. I might try and get the superglue put in a desperate attempt to rescue it. A different 'new' one couldn't be a replacement.

So no. IMO you can't ask the child's parents for a replacement. Yes feel sad. Yes I'm the parent feels bad. But if something is really sentimental then don't let it be played with. Unfortunately, if like me, you realise something is sentimental until it's gone, it's a tough one.

[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.

[Ruthie74r]

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

[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.

[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?

[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!)

[iMatter]

Yabu I'm afraid.

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

[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.

[Haudyerwheesht]

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

[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

[PenguinsAreAce]

Was it those fucking quacking ducks?

[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.

[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.