Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Disgusted by excessive Xmas treats!

402 replies

PinkPomeranian · 04/01/2022 14:52

My kids are doing a final clear up before going back to school tomorrow, and 8yo trotted off to fetch her Xmas sweet haul which she had forgotten about and therefore barely touched.

Seeing it all laid out I am absolutely astounded by the amount of chocolate/sweets she has accumulated. (Even more horrified to realise that 5yo currently has a pile half this size despite receiving the same stuff as her elder sister!) This is over the last month alone. She also has two large tins full of the sweets she's been given at parties and Hallowe'en etc. I don't think our friends or family are particularly big on sweets so guess lots of little or one-off things have just accumulated.

AIBU to be a bit taken aback by the amount she's received? And what do other people do with it all? I don't think she'll get through it all but seems a waste to bin it.

Disgusted by excessive Xmas treats!
OP posts:
Original poster
PinkPomeranian · 04/01/2022 15:46

@Dagnabit

Ffs, overdramatic much? It will stay in date for ages so let her have a bit on a weekend or something. This smells of performance parenting to me.
Sorry! Promise it's not performance parenting. My kids do have lots of other snacks, puddings, meals out etc so this (and the other tins of sweets) shouldn't be viewed in isolation.
OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 04/01/2022 15:46

@HelloBunny

I’m surprised by all of the people saying that it’s okay for kids eat all of this crap... Fair enough. I would have though that was a lot of sweets! I like sweet things myself, I try not to eat that much. But I definitely wouldn’t let my small child eat it. Family never gift us sweet things, so I’ve never really thought / worried about it, tbh.
Over the course of 6 months or so?
satci · 04/01/2022 15:47

@Boofay

My 3 year old could bosh this in one sitting.
mine too
fairylightsandwaxmelts · 04/01/2022 15:47

I take the point about chocolate lasting beyond its BBE but we do always seem to receive lots of lovely Easter eggs as well so I guess part of the reason I'm asking is because I don't want a cupboard full of chocolate. Our kitchen isn't that big and I need the space

So just store it somewhere else? lol. That sounds a bit of a ridiculous reason to want to throw out perfectly good food.

Surely you can just shove it in the cupboard under the stairs, the bottom of the wardrobe, in the spare room, in the boot of the car, under your bed...

Original poster
PinkPomeranian · 04/01/2022 15:48

There are five of us with similar amounts from Christmas, plus all the other things from before. It's loads!

OP posts:
RowanAlong · 04/01/2022 15:48

Pool all kids choc and let them have one/two a week from now on?

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 04/01/2022 15:48

@HelloBunny

I’m surprised by all of the people saying that it’s okay for kids eat all of this crap... Fair enough. I would have though that was a lot of sweets! I like sweet things myself, I try not to eat that much. But I definitely wouldn’t let my small child eat it. Family never gift us sweet things, so I’ve never really thought / worried about it, tbh.
What do you think will happen to them if they eat a few pieces of chocolate a week over the course of 2-3 months?
chesirecat99 · 04/01/2022 15:49

I just don't want it hanging around

Why don't you want it hanging around? As long as it doesn't go off (which it won't for years) and end up in the bin, why does it matter?

If you think that might happen, suggest they donate some to the food bank, use some chocolate to make cakes or hot chocolate or buy a chocolate mould and melt it down to remould as Easter or birthday treats for friends.

Original poster
PinkPomeranian · 04/01/2022 15:49

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

I take the point about chocolate lasting beyond its BBE but we do always seem to receive lots of lovely Easter eggs as well so I guess part of the reason I'm asking is because I don't want a cupboard full of chocolate. Our kitchen isn't that big and I need the space

So just store it somewhere else? lol. That sounds a bit of a ridiculous reason to want to throw out perfectly good food.

Surely you can just shove it in the cupboard under the stairs, the bottom of the wardrobe, in the spare room, in the boot of the car, under your bed...

The trouble with that is that it's forgotten about and not eaten, which is partly how we've ended up with all the other stuff as well.
OP posts:
GiveMyHeadPeaceffs · 04/01/2022 15:50

@PinkPomeranian my ds gets lots of chocolate over Easter/Christmas and his birthday. He really truly doesn't eat anywhere near that amount of sweets. There's a local freecycle Facebook group that I'm part of and we offered up a carrier bag of sweets accumulated over a year (both his and mine). The guy that wanted it came and got it and was delivering it to a homeless shelter.

There's no way my ds would eat the amount your dc have got in a year never mind a couple of months, he just doesn't have a sweet tooth.

musicviking1 · 04/01/2022 15:50

You'd have a massive heart attack if you saw my children's. They don't eat it all at once and usually share most of it. Chill out perhaps?

WorraLiberty · 04/01/2022 15:50

@PinkPomeranian

There are five of us with similar amounts from Christmas, plus all the other things from before. It's loads!
So pop it in a small plastic storage box and stick it on top of a cupboard or under your bed.

Is there anything else we can help you with?

Blinking? Breathing perhaps?

Jux · 04/01/2022 15:51

Excellent child has learnt to regulate her sweet intake. Be proud. Hope your little one learns the same in time too.

We bought dd sweets when she/we felt like it. She'd get a packet, eat a couple, put the pack down, forget about it. In contrast, her friends whose parents only allowed sweets on Saturdays (seemed to be what most people did round my way back then) would clutch their pack until the lot had gone. Parents were always talking about sugar rushes and how badly behaved their child was on 'sweetie days' as a reason not to do it differently. "You give your dd sweets on a Wednesday?! I couldn't do with the bad behaviour midweek...". DD didn't become badly behaved when she had sweets, probably because she ate a lot fewer at a time.

mswales · 04/01/2022 15:51

I think you should be thilled that this remains untouched and you say she won't get through it all! It's very challenging getting my four year old to ration all the treats he gets. I have to hide them so he forgets about them.

girlmom21 · 04/01/2022 15:51

The trouble with that is that it's forgotten about and not eaten, which is partly how we've ended up with all the other stuff as well.

Ok, so what do you do when you find the forgotten about stuff?

If you're not willing to do any of the logical suggestions, do that instead.

Glitterygreen · 04/01/2022 15:52

Don't really get the big deal over this....'she's allowed to eat it but she thinks it's too much' etc etc. So? Confused

If she thinks it's too much then she doesn't need to eat it? Put it in the cupboard and everyone can have some when they feel like it.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 04/01/2022 15:52

The trouble with that is that it's forgotten about and not eaten, which is partly how we've ended up with all the other stuff as well.

Fake thread.

It's impossible to forget about chocolate Grin

HelloBunny · 04/01/2022 15:52

Agree with those pointing out about spreading it out. I do that with my own treats, as well. My kid is still small (18 months) so I haven’t encountered this yet... My mum & sister are both sugar-free, really. So none of us ever gift this sort of thing.

LittleGwyneth · 04/01/2022 15:52

That kind of inflammatory language is not the way to encourage a healthy and neutral relationship with food.

If you're really bothered then next time there's a school bake sale, use a load of it in some brownies. Or do that and then drop them off to a friend or relative who could use cheering up.

rosydreams · 04/01/2022 15:53

just make hot chocolate heat a load of milk and chuck in a few santas or what ever festive chocolate you have .People tend to buy chocolate as its a easy go to gift that kids love

Toottooot · 04/01/2022 15:53

You need to go no contact with your friends and family who gifted such a disgusting range of chocolate. Cut them out your life asap.

Magnited · 04/01/2022 15:53

Bollocks. I eat that for breakfast.

Glitterygreen · 04/01/2022 15:53

You can even give it away to grandparents or family if you really are desperate to get it out of your house? But surely 4 of you could eat this amount of chocolate over the course of a few months without it being overkill?

HelloBunny · 04/01/2022 15:54

Saying they’re sugar-free in general, we do celebrate birthdays & occasions with cake & nice things!

Original poster
PinkPomeranian · 04/01/2022 15:55

This is normally what happens, I think she just put all her things in her stocking and in her bedroom when asked to tidy things away before guests came. Though she did have selection boxes from last year in her desk even in December this year so I don't think it would be a big problem for her to keep it in her room.

She does already have a big biscuit tin and a Celebrations tub full of sweets in the kitchen, so this would be a third tub for her alone. She isn't eating it all, which is why I wanted ideas to use up or get rid. It feels like we're just hoarding it.

OP posts: