Mum 'fuming' after parent returns daughter's goodie bag because it's 'too generous'

A mum has been left 'fuming' after a parent returned a goodie bag they received at her daughter’s birthday because it was 'too generous'.

The mum shared her frustration on parenting forum Mumsnet, explaining that it had cost her £12.50 to make up each of the bags, which included 'some pens, a notepad with each of the girls' initials, a little nail varnish set each, a book, a pair of novelty socks, some sweets and a piece of birthday cake'.

She said: 'DD turned 11 last week and we had a sleepover party at the weekend - 4 friends, a takeaway pizza, sweets, a film, birthday cake, nail painting and games. In total the 'party' cost less than £50.

'I didn't know what to do about party bags so instead of little plastic ones I bought some gift bags and made up bags including some pens, a notepad with each of the girls' initials, a little nail varnish set each, a book, a pair of novelty socks, some sweets and a piece of birthday cake.

'DD made some little thank you notes in advance to pop in too- the bags cost about £12.50 each so about £50 in total but given the party was cheap in comparison to previous years (soft play, hall hire, pass the parcel..!) and DD and I had fun making them up I wasn't bothered.’

While the mum expected the bags to go down well, she wasn’t prepared for one parent’s reaction after the birthday party.

She added: ‘DD came home from school yesterday with one of the bags and a letter for me from one of the mums. The letter basically says the bag was too generous as a party bag and her daughter was returning it as she (the mum) couldn't let her accept it.

‘DD is really embarrassed as her friend told her that her mum says I try too hard. I'm mortified but also livid- I don't do the school run so only know this mum to say hello to when dropping kids off at hobbies/parties/play dates etc- I definitely don't want to impress her or anyone else! I have been internally fuming since 4pm yesterday!’

She then asked other Mumsnet users whether she had reason to feel angry, or whether the other mother was in the right for returning the goodie bag, but the majority of commenters agreed that the other mum is in the wrong.

One said: 'Wow, her poor daughter. She must be so embarrassed. What a mean mum. The gifts were nice. It was a really small party so I think it’s fair enough.'

Another said: 'That is really sad. You put all that effort in. I think she was really rude.'

A third added: 'That is so unbelievably rude of her', while a fourth said: 'Massively rude and odd!!!'