To ask DM to stop buying my DC kinder eggs?

[pipnchops]

We see my DM every week and she always gives my DC age 2 and 4 a kinder egg. They love getting them and have come to expect them when they see her. They scoff the chocolate but really couldn't care less about the toy. I don't mind her giving them a treat when she sees them but it's the plastic tat I can't cope with. I have made comments about them not seeming fussed about the toy and they'd be just as happy with chocolate buttons and she replied that they're not special enough. Can I outright ask her to stop buying kinder eggs or is that ungrateful and mean?

Wow this is confusing 😂 in my gut I'm 100 percent with the people who are saying the plastic is bad for the environment, can't be recycled and nobody would want to buy it so i can't even pass them on. But then i read responses about being ungrategul by requesting my DM choose a different treat. I think it just shows that like most decisions in parenting you're damned if you do damned if you don't!

God what a bunch of tedious killjoys. There’s 20g of chocolate in a Kinder egg. One a week is hardly the road to obesity. OP, do the children really not like the toys, or have you just taken all the fun out of it for them? Can their gran not just have a little special thing with them?

“Single use plastic” seems to be the new bandwagon jumping buzzword on here. You’d all save the planet a lot quicker if you stopped driving everywhere, flying on foreign holidays, eating meat, and buying endless amounts of stuff.

@pipnchops save them and take to charity shop or give to someone who would appreciate

Know what you mean about the plastic tho wish more people were more aware

Gingersausage i have most definitely not taken all the fun out of the toys. I always make a big deal of opening the plastic egg once they've finished the chocolate and saying ooh what's in here etc etc. My 4 year old watches as i open it but she's already lost interest by the time I've assembled the eleventy billionth minion which is 9 times out of 10 one she already has 😂 and the 2 year old really does not even look at the toy, maybe she'll grow into it a bit more when she's legally allowed them! I do get a bit sad because when I was a kid i remember getting a kinder egg maybe a couple of times a year and it being a real treat and I couldn't wait to see what was inside. Saying that i would have been much older when i used to get them so maybe they're a bit young at the moment. I just think they've had so many they're a bit over it now which i find such a shame.

Ignore the people saying you are being ungrateful.

I'd rather come across as ungrateful and help save the fish and the planet than just be so awful and just chuck the plastic away immediately. We don't own this planet and we should look after it the best we can

And to those who have asked if you have just taken the fun out of the toys.... No... The toys have got considerably more shit as time has gone on so no kid can even play with them!

Fruit is a nice treat.

Chuck the crap in the bin
Neck the choc. Cheer up dear.

I think yabu. She’s trying to be nice and the kids like them, either keep the toys or give them to a charity shop or something if you don’t want to throw them away.

No wonder the planet is in a mess with all these people saying just chuck it in the bin! I’m with you OP it’s so wasteful! Could you save them up for your children’s parties?

I am actually so shocked at the amount of people who are saying 'just bin the plastic', I genuinely thought that people were so much more aware of the problem now. Kinder need to reduce the plastic tat, was only saying this the other day! Kids magazines are also really bad for plastic tat I find!

The amount of plastic we get given “for our kids” is terrible. McDonald’s may have moved to paper straws but aren’t they still giving our toys in happy meals which are often plastic? Pp you’re right about magazines too, you’d think magazines from the bbc like CBeebies would have cottoned on to it now, but no

Shouldn't the treat be seeing Granny and having Granny's attention and love?

Do they love Granny or love chocolate? Really Granny should be enough with treats being a special surprise, not an expectation.

I feel the same way Anna. I am really uncomfortable with the way they expect a treat every time they see her but she loves indulging them. They eat a lot of fruit every day so this wouldn't be a treat. My DM isn't really into doing crafts with them or baking.

My kids' charity shop has overflowing buckets of kinder egg/ happy meal toys. No one wants to buy them, they are landfill. Can you tell her they really love, I don't know, milky bar buttons at the moment?

You are right @pipnchops
Mmm. Could your Mum get special cookies or something like that?
Thing is that nothing is ever really thrown away, it’s with us.

Tell her it is not just about the waste it also more expensive and a bag of choccy buttons would be loved just as much and think of the environment.

I don’t think YABU. I don’t really like the idea of binning the toys. There’s already too much plastic being thrown.

I’d suggested some different treat likes others have said

People suggesting buttons instead - you know the bag they come in is single use plastic and can't be recycled, right?

Good point little wiggler, this has crossed my mind too! My mum baking a homemade treat is the way forward but i can't see that happening.

You’re right about buttons being in single use plastic bags too. I think the thing about plastic though should be an aim to cut out where we can, and if we can’t, then reduce. “Can’t” will mean different things for different people but if people are aiming to reduce and managing it, it’s a step forward. If we try to stop using all plastic full stop, people will fail and feel despondent which leads to giving up. Reducing is far better than no action at all!

They're absolutely bloody useless toys!

Talk to her and definitely get her to swap for the bars.

People suggesting buttons instead - you know the bag they come in is single use plastic and can't be recycled, right?

Some places have terracycle collection points for those.

Sorry, I've not read the whole thread so probably xpost but would she not give them just the kinder chocolate if that's what they like so much? I get the little bars for DD. I can't see how they're special if the don't actually want them. I don't think YABU.

All this talk of kinder eggs makes me want to go and buy one some!

I have suggested the little kinder bars when i suggested the buttons but they're not special enough. There is definitely a market out their for an environmentally friendly surprise egg type treat that's available all year round isn't there! I'm thinking like the smarties eggs you get around easter. Foil wrapping, chocolate inside. Did also suggest mum stockpile these around Easter too give instead of kinder eggs but she said she thinks the sugar coating around the smarties is bad for their teeth. Yes I know how ridiculous that sounds but that was her reason. I did mention all the toys going to landfill eventually and she said she offsets that by buying her fruit and veg loose and using reusable shopping bags.

Just to clarify, i mean the little smarties eggs with the mini smarties inside, not the huge ones! And I know the sugar coating is bad for teeth but surely not any worse than the actual chocolate.