Mom ignites controversial debate over her ‘insulting' birthday gift: ‘This is just ridiculous'

Yahoo

6 days ago

This mom is taking 'bring your own' to another level.
Offering to help clean up at the end of a party is one thing — but bringing your own stash of cleaning supplies as a 'gift' to the party throwers is another.
'This is a kid's birthday party and the last thing I want to do to the parents of the child is to give them some present for the kids that's going to end up in landfill…,' explained a mom in a TikTok video.
So what did she bring instead of an actual gift for the birthday kid?
A bag full of cleaning products and supplies.
'…so you know when you go to a party and everyone wants to help but nobody knows how to help because they don't know where any of the cleaning stuff is…I bring my cleaning rags… Glad Wrap, I like to bring dishwashing fluid…cleaning product — who knows how to find the cleaning products in someone else's house?' the determined mom said.
This gesture could be looked at one of two ways — either it's a thoughtful idea or it's intrusive.
And the commenters on TikTok were very divided on how they felt about it.
'This is so thoughtful. as a mama, I appreciate this so much,' one person expressed.
'this is pretty weird ngl,' quipped another commenter.
'this is actually a really cool idea,' another comment read.
'What the hell! Who the hell are you to bring cleaning products to a host's house! That's no present. That's insulting to the owner! No one needs your dodgy cleaning or dodgy cleaning products!' argued someone else.
Talk about two contrasting views.
In a follow-up video to all the controversy, the TikTok mom clarified that she doesn't give her cleaning stash as an actual gift.
'What I gave the kid was more time with their parents, so at the end of the party, the parents don't have to be cleaning up and doing stuff that will take them away from their kids,' she said, defending her decision.
Unfortunately, the commenters stuck by their guns as the explanation video didn't sway their opinions.
'Tbh, family do this anyway. Personally I didn't think a child would value this. Parents might. It's not about having to spend money but choosing something a child would love,' someone argued.
'Omg everyone gets you don't give it to the child. You can do all of that and still give the child a present. Sorry, but this is just ridiculous,' another angry commenter wrote.