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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Was IBU to not replace this drink?

422 replies

SoftPlayStandOff · 10/04/2019 15:25

Soft play centre. Large one with different areas for different age groups.

I'm sat in the corner of the pre-schooler area - DS2 (4) and DS3 (2) are around and about playing. I stand up and look the opposite way to check on DS1 (7) and DD1 (10) who are elsewhere in the older kids section. When I turn around DS2 has a fruit shoot in his hand. I tell him to put it down, its not his. He does so and I think no more of it.

A couple of minutes later a woman comes up and tells me DS2 has drunk out of her child's drink. I apologise, say that i didn't see him drink it but I'd asked him to put it down when I saw he had it. She went away.

I speak to DS2 and he says DS3 handed it to him so he thought it was DS3's so had a mouthful. DS3 had picked it up from the middle of the floor in the middle of the soft play.

A couple of minutes later the woman's friend comes and asks if i'm replacing the drink. I laugh thinking she's joking and explain that I was sorry but it had been left in the middle of the floor and my toddler picked it up and gave it to his brother. She says again - 'well XXX can't drink it now its had his lips on it, are you going to by another?' I apologised again and suggested that surely a wipe with a baby wipe would be fine? She looks incredulous and says something about germs. I point out that its softplay - germs are everywhere and no, i was not replacing a drink that had been left in the middle of the room that my child had inadvertently taken a sip of.

Had this been a reverse I would have just wiped the bottle and let my kid get on with their drink. If i was the sort to be concerned by germs i would have not been at softplay or at the very least i would have kept my kids bottles by me (as I had done with my own kids bottles).

They proceed to bitch about it loudly until I left.

SO WIBU to not replace the drink in these circumstances?

OP posts:
cherrryontop · 12/04/2019 08:39

The parent not watching closely enough to stop their child taking drinks into the play area is wrong. They should have made sure the drink was kept on the table.

Ok you need eyes in your arse to see everything a kid does but it's not hard to make sure they don't take things in they they shouldn't.

They also need to think about drinks getting spilled, what if someone slipped if it poured out of the bottle? What about babies who aren't supposed to drink juice just yet?

Not the fault of the child who happened to see a drink that was probably identical to theirs and took a swig.

Other parent is bonkers.

Shockers · 12/04/2019 09:20

Don’t people run things under a tap anymore?

OneDayillSleep · 12/04/2019 09:40

I wouldn't have replaced it either and would have been annoyed my child drank a fruit shoot. You did the child a favour her having to throw it away Grin. Also soft play and precious about germs 😂, I feel like I'm sat in a germ pit on the odd occasion we brave it.

Original poster
SoftPlayStandOff · 12/04/2019 09:54

shockers just me apparently! but then my kids also play in the mud, muck out the horse poo, play in the hay barns and go damming down the stream which the local cattle field runs off into.....they also share drinks bottles and bites from cake or similar when required.....and out of the 4 DC i have had 3 of them with one stomach bug each in their lives and only a cold or two each year....dirt is good!

OP posts:
Ginburee · 12/04/2019 17:41

If the drink was taken from a table I would consider replacing it but it wasnt, it was on the floor.
I am more taken aback by the amount of ignorant mumsnetters who are worried about catching coldsores from sharing a bottle.

Bluntness100 · 12/04/2019 17:54

I'm more concerned about the people who think if someone's small child puts their drink down where they shouldn't, it's fair game and their own kids are perfectly entitled to it.

That's a shitty attitude in my book. I'm guessing they think it's the same for anything, if you leave it where you shouldn't then they are perfectly entitled to have at it.

Marriedwithchildren5 · 12/04/2019 18:03

Agree with you op. Wouldnt have occured to me to have replaced it!! Plus their attitude sounds a bit crappy, it would have made me even more certain i wasnt paying! But i can be petty like that.

lboogy · 12/04/2019 18:06

Is this drink the elixir of eternal life? If not I'd have told her to fuck off: how petty is she? And all the posters saying yabu are equally ridiculous

Motherontheedge1 · 13/04/2019 16:14

I agree totally with Iboogy. They shouldn’t have left it where they did and you shouldn’t replace it. I can’t believe they’re making so much fuss over a drink and they should be apologising to you.

Motherontheedge1 · 13/04/2019 16:17

Marriedwith5. You sound like a person I could het on with as does Iboogy. Totally agree with you both.

Dana28 · 14/04/2019 13:49

You don't drink a drink that is not yours! If they had dropped £20 on the floor it would be ok to spend it?

strawberriesandsugar · 14/04/2019 13:54

Omg I cannot believe the responses.
Of course you shouldn't replace 🤦‍♀️

LynnTheseAreSexPeople · 14/04/2019 13:57

bluntbess are you illiterate? Op didn't steal the drink for her kid. Her kid picked it up without op realising. It was 100 % the other mum's fault that happened so other mum can replace the drink. What if a parent had seen it lying on the floor and put it on the bin you think they should replace the drink then? Other mum should teach her kid not to leave stuff on the floor!

LynnTheseAreSexPeople · 14/04/2019 14:02

dana that is totally different. If you left £20 on the floor on a toddler play area I can't guarantee that my toddler won't pick it up and play with it, once I noticed my toddler had it I would give it back to you just like op did. If you don't want toddlers touching your stuff don't leave it on the floor of soft play!

Ihopeyourcakeisshit · 14/04/2019 14:02

I am agog at some of the replies.
Yanbu OP.

Candyapple49 · 05/03/2020 06:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Candyapple49 · 05/03/2020 06:37

Sorry . Above should be a new post .

potter5 · 05/03/2020 07:27

If the parents had been watching their child they would have noticed drink left and should have picked it up. Can't then ask you to replace it. I think the mum was being confrontational asking you to replace.

Fluffybutter · 05/03/2020 07:31

In the current climate ,yes I’d have bought a new one .
Saying your kids rarely get ill doesn’t matter , it wasn’t their drink so you should have replaced .

WildfirePonie · 05/03/2020 07:42

How do you know it was their drink to start with? They could have been trying it on and YANBU.

TrentBridge · 05/03/2020 07:46

This was a year ago. I'm hoping the OP has moved on by now!

eaglejulesk · 05/03/2020 07:48

YANBU - it was only a sip for crying out loud!

midnightstar66 · 05/03/2020 07:51

We are in the midst of a virus epidemic and you're wondering why someone won't let their child drink from the same bottle as a stranger?! - of course you should have replaced the drink (regardless of corona virus )

Titsntats · 05/03/2020 07:54

@midnightstar66 seeing as this post was started almost a year ago the corona virus is completely irrelevant. Maybe actually read the OP’s thread before trying to make them look stupid

Jenasaurus · 05/03/2020 08:08

Its good manners and polite to replace the drink, it wouldn't have cost much and the other mother would have been pleased that you did so. I understand the child left it on the floor but it really is an easy issue to resolve.